by Carissa Johnson

Created on: January 15, 2010

Readers have short attention spans. Some say your age is how long you can give 100% focus to one thing before you lose it. I'm not sure how scientific that is... but I know for sure that the first few words in a Helium article - or any article in general you may end up writing - make the most impact when it comes to "first impressions" and grabbing your reader, drawing them in so that they stay through the entire article. Therefore, your article should start with a SHAZAM! ...and restating the title that the reader just read seconds ago before even starting the article isn't the most grabbing way to start. Redundancy is boring and a turn-off, and there is simply no need to restate the title - whether it is word for word or paraphrased.  

Anyone who has taken an English writing or speaking class knows that the forbidden first few words when starting a paper or a speech are, "Hi, my name is _______ and I am going to talk to you today about global warming." The instant you say that, your audience is already bored. It is the same with titles. It implies that you are going to be boring, even if you're not. It's crucial to start with a bang. Begin with an interesting introduction - a fact, a quote, anything. Later in the paragraph, you may state your topic and tell the audience what you're going to talk about, but hopefully they already get it in a memorable way.

If people are reading your article, they're probably reading it because they want to and because they know what it's going to be about. If they're rating, the screen already shows what the title is. You don't need to restate it - word for word or in your own words. If your article is well written, readers will be able to figure out what you are writing about without being flat-out told. If someone stumbled upon your writing from Google, which is how I found out about Helium, then they know what they searched and hopefully that is why they are on your Helium article. No matter who is reading your article, they've already read the title and you don't need to say it again for them.

Plus... let's be honest. It's the cheapskate method of adding five or ten extra words onto your word count so that you can meet the 400 word minimum. Readers deserve to be given quality writing in every last one of the 400 words you give them, so make them count.

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