Self-Editing Tip #4: Don’t Snub Your Subheadings

They guide your readers through your stories

Have you got your headline and subheadline correctly formatted?

Have you got plenty of white space surrounding your nice, short paragraphs?

If so, great!

If not, check out Self-Editing tips #2 and #3 here on the Pause to enhance the look and feel of your story. And to support your local editors.

Next up, your subheadings.

Does your story need subheadings?

Most of the time, yes.

Like white space, they break up and spread out your story visually, making it an easier read.

They also provide an overview of your story for any readers who like to skim before they indulge. Most of us do that whether we’re conscious of it or not. We want to know what we’re getting ourselves in for before diving.

Here’s a rule of thumb: the longer your story, the more subheadings you need.

Where to put them?

Look for natural shifts in your story.

It could be shifts in time, or topic, or subtopic.

Or look for short sentences that can be converted to subheadings. I learned that tip from Shaunta Grimes and use it all the time.

I may punch up one of my juicier sentences by making it a subhead. Or, as an editor, one of yours.

When you finish making subtitles, step back and check the entire piece for even spacing. Exact uniformity is not needed, but don’t want the reader to have to go too long before the next subhead.

Title or Sentence Case?

Easy peasy. If your subtitle is a complete sentence, punctuate it like a sentence. Capitalize the first letter; punctuate the end.

If not, capitalize all significant words like you did in the overall title of your piece. If you need help with that, run your titles and subtitles through Capitalize my Title.

This free app will also analyze your title which is handy, too. The analysis assesses your headline’s readability (i.e. reading grade level), SEO (search engine optimization), and use of emotional power words.

We can go down rabbit holes playing on these tools. But given that your title is the first thing people see of your story, it’s time well spent. You want your title to grab people without making false promises.

Big T or Little t?

Medium suggests using the Big T for subheadings and the little t for any sub-sub headings between subheadings. Like outlines that have 1, 2, 3, and within those, a, b, c.

However, I prefer subheads that fit on one line.

So I’ll use the small t size to make that happen.

How to find these Ts? Highlight a line of text and a box appears with various tools. Click on the one you want.

I think that covers it.

For more about how I approach editing your stories, see:

Here’s the complete set of Self-Editing Tips published so far:

What are you ‘too old’ or ‘too scared’ to do? Let me show you how!

Marilyn Flower is a sacred fool who writes every day — fiction, poetry, and blogs — inspired by a process called SoulCollage®. She’s the author of Creative Blogging and Bucket Listers, Get Your Brave On. Follow her Sacred Foolishness or SoulCollage® for Writers, and Stay in touch!