Stop Obsessing With Your Subtitle When Your Title Is Good Enough
A subtitle is only needed for clarity.
The sentence above, would have been a nice subtitle and to be honest, I almost gave in, and use it as such.
It is a great introduction though, and let me keep it that way.
I am a work in progress. Every word we write as writers is a work in progress. I have always been a reader, but never in my wildest dream, I could become a writer.
Like any craft, the more we do it, the more we become good at it. Along the way, in our writing journey, we discover our writing style and our writer’s voice.
I try to follow any writing advice and even share my writing tips. Like any other given advice, it doesn’t work for everyone. Writing advice doesn’t work for every writer. You can only keep the ones that work for you.
In any journey you take, the road you choose isn’t always the easiest or the shortest to help you reach your destination. Sometimes, it is part of the journey, the long road, the wrong turn, but like any good story, you still end up at your destination.
The same goes with your writing journey, it will not always be easy, the words will not come flowing every day like an open floodgate.
Whenever you feel, you want to quit or defeated, always go back to that defining memory, of why you chose to write when writing brought you joy and your writing journey will never cease to amaze you.
Wherever we publish our writings, we as writers are storytellers. Like many writers, we follow the writers before us, the things, successful writers do to achieve their kind of success.
I can’t remember the first article I wrote that has a subtitle. I know it wasn't always the way I wrote, even when I was in school.
There is always a title or a headline but a subtitle was optional, not mandatory.
When do we need to add a subtitle to our article?
Three examples come to mind:
- Twelfth Night: Or What You Will by Shakespeare.
- Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell.
- On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King.
Even Shakespeare used a subtitle, but only once, Twelfth Night: Or What You Will is the only Shakespearean play to bear one when first published. “ Or What You Will” is the subtitle.
In Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell's use of “The Story of Success” as a subtitle, helped introduce the word “outlier” to the reading public, which is more commonly used in statistics and mathematics, but in the book, outliers mean maverick or non -conformist successful people.
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is a semi-autobiography, and a book for writers, by Stephen King, adding the subtitle, “A Memoir of the Craft”, makes it clear that the book is unlike any of the fiction books by Stephen King.
A great book for writers, old and new.
I want to make it clear, that there is nothing wrong with using subtitles, only use it sparingly and again only for clarity.
A subtitle is only needed for clarity.
I have been obsessing with my headline or title, and when I feel, I get it right, that it will draw in more readers, there is little time to bask in glory, when I need to move on and start obsessing with writing my subtitle, and finally, find a good photo to go with my article.
By the time I finish, and make a final read of my article, either to self publish or submit it to publication, I'm tired.
It feels, like, let’s get it over with and move on, and write a new article.
It was never part of my plan to be a writing machine. Like in everything happening in my life, I took the time to process it. I realize that the only way to get back in the groove is to not be obsessed with writing titles and subtitles, and with images.
Perfection is our enemy as writers.
There will always be room for improvement, and if we chase the perfect title, subtitle, and images, it will only deplete us, we will feel consumed by it.
One question should come to mind, when we add a subtitle, what it is for?
The only acceptable answer is for clarity. Never write titles and subtitles as clickbait, to attract readers and viewers.
Titles tell your reader what they are about to read, like a welcome message at the front door, when a reader is one step away from knocking or walking past by.
Stephen King, in his semi-autobiography book On Writing, said:
to write is human, to edit is divine
I wrote in an article, Write without fear, and then edit it without mercy and a piece of advice every writer should follow, Rule 17, of The Elements of Style, “ Omit Needless Words.”
If your subtitle is not adding clarity, omit it.
Write a title not because it is optimized for the search engines or the algorithms or as clickbait.
Final thoughts
My motivation to write is to put my thoughts on paper, and my published works to make me remember.
If my words can inspire people if somehow, my words offer some life lessons, and if my words feel like God’s whisper for someone who needed to hear or read them. I have done a good job as a writer, that is my success.
Like anything in life, in our writing, we forget the motivation or it changes. From our simple reasons why we write, we suddenly want to become famous, we want to make thousands of dollars like other writers do, or we want more views. Everything that our ego wants.
All of the above can be a motivation, but all of the above can leave you defeated when they don't happen.
There are headlines, I wrote not for the reader, but for the search engines, some worked, and some didn't.
There are headlines, I wrote to lure readers.
There are headlines, I wrote that is inspired.
Like any great writer, what works, we will never know when they work and why they work.
The rules of my writing process.
I try not to write and edit at the same time. My first draft is messy, sometimes the words come out like a song in my head. Sometimes, I need to pause for coffee, and if that what it takes, I will do it if it helps me finish an article.
I edit my work, I remind myself not to be in love with my writing, otherwise, I will not be able to omit needless words.
Balance
I am not here to tell any writer, don’t fuss about headlines. Good headlines or titles allow you to reach your audience and even introduce yourself to a new audience.
A writer shouldn't be a snob and leave everything to the reader to discover your work or in our case, our words.
Titles are a good invitation, and writing a good invitation, means good writing.
In the world we live in today, readers have so much to choose from, we live in a time, where there are so many writers and published works.
As writers, we need to show up, and by showing up means, our titles should be enticing but truthful, and the same applies to your subtitles.
Writing isn't about chasing a dream, especially for someone like me who is in his 50s, to quote Stephen King;
“Writing is not life, sometimes it can be a way back to life.”
Subtitles will not make your writing any better, sometimes better writing starts with not having any.
