Head Matter

4 min read · Updated Sep 23, 2026

8 commits

1. 0bed14c Sep 23, 2026 +1 −1 Drop "Overnight" from agent post title
2. 93ea845 Sep 23, 2026 +1 Retitle overnight agent post and tighten its standfirst
3. 9e1e26b Sep 23, 2026 +3 −5 Make heavy copy edit an aggressive message-preserving cut
4. f83bdd6 Sep 23, 2026 +13 Loosen house style and add practical-guide rules to style guide
5. 739bc0c Feb 28, 2026 +5 −3 Enhance style guide with new writing principles and clarity improvements from Economist Style Guide, 12th Edition
6. 35b978c Feb 9, 2026 +2 Add navigation order to pages and implement dynamic navigation menu
7. b2c679a Feb 9, 2026 +2 −2 Move style guide to /style-guide/ and rename Headlines to Head Matter
8. ed42210 Feb 9, 2026 +61 Revise site configuration and add documentation sections. Update title and tagline for clarity, introduce a new 'docs' collection with a style guide and a specific page on headlines and standfirsts, and enhance navigation to include links to these resources.

Headlines

Headlines should state what the article is about and why it matters.

• Be specific.
• Avoid ambiguity and intrigue.
• Prefer statements to questions.

Good: “Why Most Internal LLM Projects Stall After the Pilot” Bad: “Thoughts on AI”

A headline that promises more than the article delivers is a form of dishonesty.

Format

Write the title as a declarative claim, in title case. A useful test: the title should read as a debating motion if you put “This House Believes That…” in front of it — but never publish the prefix.

Example: Our Language of Authorship Is Unprepared for What Is Already Here

Principles

• Frame a belief, not a topic. The title should express a position someone could disagree with. “AI and Authorship” is a topic. “Our Language of Authorship Is Unprepared for What Is Already Here” is a claim.
• Encode the argument’s structure, not just its subject. The best titles compress the article’s central mechanism into a single phrase. If the piece argues that a naming failure causes a policy failure, the title should express that causal chain, not just gesture at the domain.
• Prefer assertion over question. Questions defer; assertions commit.
• Clarity over cleverness. A headline that requires the reader to have already read the piece in order to understand it has failed. Wit is welcome; opacity is not.
• Avoid starting with “The”. It weakens the opening. Rephrase to begin with a stronger word — a possessive (“Our”), a noun with no article (“Authorship”), or a declarative construction.
• Avoid “The real question is not X but Y” and similar AI-prose clichés. Rewrite with direct assertion or a single decisive framing.
• Practical guides state the claim behind the advice, not the task. “Agents Need Standing Orders and Fewer Approvals” commits to a position a reader could dispute; “How to Delegate to Overnight Agents” only names the job.
• Keep it short enough to scan, long enough to be precise. One clause is too blunt; three is too ornate. Aim for a single sentence with internal tension — a claim that contains its own friction.

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Standfirsts

Function

The standfirst sits between the title and the body. It does three things in sequence: establishes the current state, identifies the gap or failure, and signals the consequence. It should make the reader feel the piece is already underway before they reach the first paragraph.

Structure

Use a two-sentence format:

1. Sentence one: status shift. State what has changed or what is now true. This should feel concrete and slightly ahead of conventional wisdom.
2. Sentence two: gap and consequence. Identify what is missing or broken, then land on a human or institutional cost.

Example:

AI is becoming a writing partner, not just a writing tool. But we have no language for that collaboration — and institutions are already enforcing rules they cannot define.

Principles

• Escalate across the two sentences. The first should reframe; the second should raise stakes. Don’t let both sentences sit at the same altitude.
• End on consequence, not description. “We have no word for this” is description. “Institutions are already enforcing rules they cannot define” is consequence. Always close on the latter.
• Mirror the tone of the piece. If the article is declarative and precise, the standfirst should be too. Don’t oversell with drama the piece delivers with evidence.
• Don’t preview the argument’s solution. The standfirst sells the problem. The piece earns the answer.
• No wind-up. Do not begin with “In an era of…”, “As we enter a new age of…”, “It’s time to ask…”, or “The rise of X has forced us to confront Y.” These are the written equivalent of clearing your throat before speaking. Begin with a claim that is already moving. If the standfirst needs a warm-up sentence, the first sentence is not strong enough.
• The “already underway” test. Read the standfirst alone. Does it feel like the piece has already started, or like the piece is about to start? If the latter, the standfirst is a preamble, not an opening.
• Plain over clever. The standfirst is often the only text a reader sees in a feed or search result. Say what the piece is about in words they would use. Avoid antithesis couplets (“Their methods carry over to AI agents almost unchanged. Their accountability does not”); they sound like a thesis but leave the reader guessing what the piece covers.

Practical guides

When the piece helps the reader make a decision or do a job, the standfirst tells them what they will be able to decide and where the lessons come from. The status-shift format and the “don’t preview the solution” rule do not apply; the reader chooses a practical guide because it previews the job.

1. Sentence one: the reader’s decision or task, in their terms.
2. Sentence two: the source of the advice and what it covers.

Example:

Decide what an overnight agent may do while you’re asleep and which decisions must wait until morning. Military delegation offers lessons about setting limits and resisting needless approval.

Keep it under 160 characters where possible; it doubles as the SEO description.