misleading titles on special articles. To state more than the facts
warrant, to promise more than can be given, to arouse expectations that
cannot be satisfied--all are departures from truth and honesty.

Accuracy in titles involves, not merely avoidance of exaggerated and
misleading statement, but complete harmony in tone and spirit between
title and article. When the story is familiar and colloquial in style,
the title should reflect that informality. When the article makes a
serious appeal, the title should be dignified. A good title, in a word,
is true to the spirit as well as to the letter.

Conciseness in titles is imposed on the writer by the physical
limitations of type and page. Because the width of the column and of the
page is fixed, and because type is not made of rubber, a headline must
be built to fit the place it is to fill. Although in framing titles for
articles it is not always necessary to conform to the strict
requirements as to letters and spaces that limit the building of news
headlines, it is nevertheless important to keep within bounds. A study
of a large number of titles will show that they seldom contain more than
three or four important words with the necessary connectives and
particles. Short words, moreover, are preferred to long ones. By
analyzing the titles in the publication to which he plans to send his
article, a writer can frame his title to meet its typographical
requirements.

The reader's limited power of rapid comprehension is another reason for
brevity. A short title consisting of a small group of words yields its
meaning at a glance. Unless the reader catches the idea in the title
quickly, he is likely to pass on to something else. Here again short
words have an advantage over long ones.