A great title is crucial to successful writing - you’ll never get anywhere if you don’t announce yourself! After all, what is the very first thing that you read when you pick up a new book, paper or magazine article?

As important as titles are, writing one is never as easy as it seems. To come up with a good title, you need to consider two things: the needs and curiosity of your audience.

Firstly, titles obviously vary enormously depending on what your audience needs. If you are writing a novel, then something short and catchy is required - yet if you are writing a scientific research paper, then a highly descriptive passage is more appropriate. This consideration isn’t too complicated - simply think about your audience and look at the other literature they are reading. Following the standard forms of title in the genre will make your work a lot easier.

The second part is a fair bit more tricky. Regardless of the context, you need your title to pique the curiosity of your reader. The word ‘need’ can’t be stressed enough - if you settle on a bad title, then your putative reader will stop reading before they’ve even started. So how do you do this? There is no golden rule - just make it bold and inviting. Suggest to your reader that following on from your title is a story or article that will teach them things they never knew.