LESSON
5
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Background
Flight, Spruce Creek High School, Port Orange, Fla.
Finishing copy touches: headlines,
captions and sidebars
Your article is only part of the story. Additional copy is needed on the spread to make it complete.
As you are writing your story, remember that it is part of
a story package. All of the elements in a story package
work together on a spread to tell the entire story. If you
cannot fit all of your information into your story, don’t
worry. Headlines, summary decks, sidebars, pull quotes,
captions and infographics provide many means to help you
tell complete stories.
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Headlines
Every yearbook spread should contain a headline – a
head. A successful headline grabs the reader’s attention,
makes specific reference to the copy, ties together all of
the elements, identifies the focus of the spread and fits the
space allotted for it. Many good yearbook headlines have
a direct tie-in with the dominant photo.
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LESSON
5
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Background
Headlines can take many forms and combinations. Because
they are set in the largest type on the page, their content is
obviously important and it is essential that they be correct.
Sentence heads can be used but they might not match the style
or tone of well-written feature stories. Most sentences lack the
impact or reader appeal of a catchy phrase. A sentence-style
head is often used as a subhead with a feature head.
Magazine or feature heads are used in most yearbooks. These
lively phrases rely on clever plays on words, high impact
words and emotion. Usually three to five words in length, they
are often phrases rather than complete sentences. Some
of the most effective feature heads are puns or variations
of popular phrases. For example:
A Shore Thing – summer beach activities
Off the Racks – clothing trends and shopping habits
Up in Smoke – changes in a school’s smoking policy
Tunnel Vision – exploring sewer tunnels under a village
A Fishy Tale – deep-sea fishing exploits of students
The Cutting Edge – shaving habits
On a Roll – rock concert experiences
Since a headline consists of only a few words, it is important
that these words be chosen carefully. Vague, lifeless words
or phrases and generic labels (science club, basketball, junior
class) will not do the job of attracting the reader. They do
little more than state the spread’s contents. This information
should be in the folio copy, not in the headline.
Headline specifics
Good headlines are specific, positive and free of editorializing.
Reflecting the tone of the spread, they tell the reader
something important. Written in present tense, they present
a complete thought in descriptive nouns and strong verbs,
with adjectives used sparingly. They do not rehash the lead
in the same words. They do not state the obvious, such as
the school name (what other school would be featured?) or
mascot, the year or the group featured on a spread.
Stir or Snooze
This short phrase is an example of a straightforward oneline primary headline for a story comparing “morning”
to “night” people. It is written in up-style: each major
word is capitalized. Alliteration, as used here, can be
an effective technique if it is not taken to extremes. This
type of head could stand by itself but would probably
communicate more effectively if it were combined with
a secondary head, written in down-style with only the
first word and any proper names capitalized, as in the
example of a hammer headline below.
Stir or Snooze
Personal choices and academic pressures dictate the
schedules of early risers and late sleepers
Tough Brake
Drivers take on the road
A kicker with a twist to a common expression
introduces a more direct sentence-type primary head
for a story on sophomores and juniors getting their
licenses. A simple rule line separates the parts.
Tough mental attitude carries swimmers through season
to fifth place at state
Pulling Through
In this example, a multi-line secondary head or wicket
adds details to the main phrase. The wicket can be
a self-contained unit as it is here or it can read into
the primary head as it does below.
Opening day victories spark enthusiasm and raise
expectations for
More Field Days
Good heads do not repeat words such as students or seniors.
Any abbreviations used in them can be clearly understood
by the reader. They do not end with periods.
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LESSON
5
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Background
Traditional rules
Traditional rules for headline writing dictate that the articles
“a,” “an” and “the” not be used. Words are not hyphenated
between lines. Related phrases (adjectives and nouns,
prepositions and nouns, verbs and objects, names) are not
split from line to line.
Magazine-style heads often ignore these rules. A
conversational tone has developed to keep readers interested.
The use of longer, paragraph-style secondary heads and
design play a role, too.
For a headline to be effective, placement, as well as content
and form, must be considered. A headline should always be
adjacent to a story, generally directly above or to the left.
Since readability could be affected, it is usually not a good
idea to extend heads across a gutter.
Captions
Even if they are worth a thousand words, pictures by
themselves cannot tell the complete story. Readers rely on
captions to do that.
Structure
Most captions will consist of at least two sentences.
The first sentence reports in present tense what is
happening in the photo.
The second and remaining sentences are usually in
past tense and give additional details about what
happened before or after the picture was taken or
background information.
Quotations can add depth to a caption by giving insight
into the thoughts of individuals pictured, in their own
words. Quotes can be included as background after
the first sentence, and can also be used as openers.
It is up to yearbook copywriters and photographers to work
together to make sure captions function as well-written and
informative answers to questions readers will have about
photos (who, what, when, where and, especially, why and
how).
The caption tells readers that their conclusions about a
photo’s content are correct. Often readers will look at a
photo, try to figure out who or what is pictured when and
then look at the caption for verification and explanation.
Writing good captions is easy. Weak captions repeat what
is obvious in the photo. (“Joe Jones looks at the mess in his
locker.”) They are not informative. (“John and Mary danced
the night away ... or strutted their stuff.”)
Weak captions contain editorializing or comments or assumptions.
(“Sally must be thinking about her date for homecoming.”) Some
do little more than identify the subject.
What writers need to do is think of captions as copy blocks
in miniature. Good captions, like good copy, require careful
and thorough reporting, avoid editorializing and attract the
reader’s attention with an interesting lead. Good captions
tell a story.
Reporting
Actively search for information about the photo. Interview
the subjects for background information and question them
about what they were doing or thinking or planning to do
next. Interview people who were watching when the photo
was taken for additional details.
If you cannot rely on photographers to bring back accurate
information, consider going along with them when they
shoot. A reporter-photographer team will almost always
write a better caption than just one or the other. Even if
you do not go with the photographer to get the photo, it is
important to make photographers an integral part of the
caption-writing process.
The first step in caption writing is to look at the photo. It may
seem simple, but many writers forget to think like readers.
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Ask yourself what questions you might have about the photo’s
contents. Readers will probably have the same questions.
Remember, a good caption always adds to a photo and does
not repeat it, so the photo must not be your only source of
information for your caption. Provide information about what
occurred before and after the instant of the photo.
Good captions supply facts; they tell who, what, when,
where, why and how and include information not obvious
in the photo but necessary to complete the story.
They identify all people in a photo accurately and completely,
from left to right. They include dates, places, results and
other details when these facts are important.
For more depth and human interest, they include quotations
from a photo’s subjects. In fact, a detailed, storytelling quote
with background information can be an excellent caption.
Caption writers, observing the principles of lively writing
and choosing words carefully, should make an effort to use
active voice verbs and avoid to be verbs (is, are, was, were,
am). They will want to rely on specific, strong, colorful nouns
and verbs and avoid using speculative adjectives, adverbs
and verbs such as seems or attempts to. They do not pad
their captions with unnecessary words because they realize
that long captions with little substance are no better than
short captions.
Identification
One of the most important functions of captions is to identify
the people pictured in photos. Complete identification means
full name (first and last for both students and adults) and in
some books, depending on established style, also title or
identifying characteristic such as class or year in school.
Some staffs choose to include a title and class designation
with a first reference in copy but not in captions.
Captions and headlines should always add to coverage.
Writing them can seem more challenging than writing copy
because of their prominence and the more limited space
restrictions. It does take practice and a certain flair.
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Background
Writing headlines is a
specialty – there are
outstanding writers who
will tell you they couldn’t
write a headline to save
their lives.
Bill Walsh, Washington Post copy chief
Sidebars
Sidebars are a means for adding information to a story –
either more or just another angle. Putting information into a
sidebar helps to streamline both the main story and delivery
of the additional information. Sidebars come in a variety of
formats. They can be a short stories, mini-profiles, quote
collections, lists and surveys.
Mini-profiles
Mini-profiles are great for focusing in on one person – a
sports player, club member, class member or faculty member.
This is a good type of sidebar to include quotes from the
person about the topic on the spread – the team, the club,
or in the portrait section. The profile highlights the person
without intruding into the main article.
Quotes
Quote collections can be gathered by asking several
people one question, similar to conducting a survey, or
from pulling them from your notes recorded during the
course of interviewing for one article. They can be used
with or without mug shots of the speakers. Great quotes
are produced by great questions that will elicit variety in
the responses, so word the questions carefully.
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LESSON
5
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Background
Masterpiece, Bak Middle School of the Arts, West Palm Beach, Fla.
Surveys
Survey results are an excellent way to represent the
entire school. They can become great graphic additions
to spreads, as the results can be used in pie charts,
bar charts, lists or other formats. Since numbers can
be impersonal, give them a human element in the main
story or maybe a quote collection sidebar.
Using facts
A good sidebar adds interesting information to the
story. This information, such as numbers, percentages
and short anecdotes, may bog down the main story,
but can add rich detail in a small space.
Lists
Top 10 lists, rosters and lists of activities, records or names
of participants can quickly add a lot of information to a
spread. Accuracy is essential when compiling lists.
Scoreboards and post-season honors
Scoreboards, season records and lists of honors,
awards and accomplishments make great sidebars
and do not bog down the main story. Just try to write
this information into the article. The difficulty you have
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writing it will be the same difficulty readers will have.
Instead, this information makes great graphics that
readers probably will look at first before delving into
the main story.
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