The Grateful Head

As if compelling, clever headlines aren’t hard enough to write (see above), figuring out how to style them can be just as difficult. Assuming you're not capitalizing every letter in every word, here are the generally accepted rules: Always capitalize the first and last words Capitalize all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs, as well as all other words that are four or more letters Despite their length, or lack thereof, capitalize the following: no, not, nor, off, out, so, up Capitalize what are known as “subordinating conjunctions”: if, because, as, that, etc. Capitalize the first word after a colon   Capitalize infinitives like this: to Be, to Do, to Go (it looks funny here, I know, but it doesn’t in headlines)

Comments

[Ed Schoaps]

I think you may have opened a can of worms, Dan.

While your headline style is used by many, those of us in the PR world who write for media are most likely required to follow the Associated Press Stylebook. And AP says to capitalize only the first word, proper nouns and proper abbreviations in all headlines. Some PR companies have even gone so far to adopt AP style as the agency standard.

Your thoughts?

Thanks,
--Ed

[Dan Santow]

Ed, thanks for your close reading. You are absolutely right. According to the AP Stylebook: “Only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized.” I just looked it up online (at apsylebook.com) so that’s the latest. As an aside, it would be interesting to know when AP added this; my 2002 and 2004 versions have no reference to headlines I can find, while my 2007 edition, the latest I own, includes an entry (right after “H-bomb”). Anyhow, I don’t mean to disagree with AP or with you, and understand following AP style. That said, I prefer the advice I gave, which is based on The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage.