The title of your essay can make or break your deal. Why? Easy! It is the first thing a client, professor, or other readers will notice. It can be the difference between “It sounds interesting” and “This will be boring.” The purpose of the title is to draw your readers’ attention to hook them in. It must be straightforward, eye-catching, and believable. With these aspects in mind, here are a few tips for titling your essay like a pro.
Name the Essay after Writing It
The title is not the topic or the theme of your essay. While you have to develop a topic and a plan for your essay, it does not have to be the title. You might find it normal to have the title first, but doing it the other way around is better. Once you are done writing your essay, you will be able to create a more specific title. You know all the topics and arguments discussed in the essay, so you will experience one of those “I know what to say now” moments.
Another good reason to follow this idea is saving time. When students come up with the title first, they spend lots of time deciding on a good one. Then they spend even more time researching around it. Instead, research around a topic, get a central idea, write your essay, and the title will naturally come.
Match the Tone of Your Essay
Essays can be written in multiple tones depending on their importance. If you need an essay to apply for a scholarship, you obviously want something serious and formal. At this point, a silly or witty title will ruin it for you. If you try to make a personal statement during a speech or write an anecdotal essay, a witty title is accepted as long as it has an intelligent profile.
No matter what your essay is about, avoid abbreviations and jargon in your title.
Keep the Statement in Mind
The statement is supposed to be the most exciting part of the essay for a simple reason – you have to hook your readers within a few lines only. It is hard, but you can do it. For this reason, you can seek inspiration for your title in the statement you have already written. Work on it or squeeze it into a few words only, then you can work on the words.
Clichés and Popular Words Work
You do not need fancy or sophisticated words to come up with a good title. Instead, you can use popular clichés because they do draw attention and work. How? Easy! They make the title eye-catching. Popular phrases are just as handy as long as you rework their meaning to match your topic.
Conclusion
Bottom line, these tips for titling your essay will help you avoid the struggle. The success of your essay is not in your research or topic only but also in the title.