The Rule of Capitals
I don’t know about you, but I always feel like an amateur when it comes to capitalization in titles. I’m not sure it was taught when I was in school, or perhaps that was one of those lovely spring days when adventuring with chums took precedence over the academy.
In any event, there are a few simple rules of thumb which can help us avoid looking like fools when we create titles for our books, essays, or emails. Like all rules of English writing, there is no pattern or rationale, it’s just a convention of what “looks right”.
So, racing in where seraphim fear to tread, here we go:
1. If it is the first word of the title, it’s capitalized, no matter what. Period. Invariably.
2. If it is the last word of the title, it’s capitalized, no matter what. Period. Invariably.
3. Subject to the pre-eminence of Rule 1 and Rule 2, everything of any size or construction is also capitalized unless it is one of the following:
a. Prepositions of two or three letters: at, by, for, in, of, on, to.
b. The three articles (a, an, the)
c. Co-ordinating conjunctions. These are: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. They join two ideas in a sentence. Use the aide memoire “FANBOYS”.
So, there you have it. By my count there are only seventeen words which are not capitalized in titles (unless they are first or last), falling into three very narrow categories. Does this make sense? Of course not, this is English!
Just to be sure you’ve got it, run these words through the foregoing sieve and decide if they would be capitalized or not (assuming they are in neither first nor last place): forthrightness, it, of, check, my, it’s, an, clue, and, its.
I have no idea how these rules apply in other languages, but I know I have readers fluent in French, German, Italian, Afrikaans, Swedish, Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Spanish, Yoruba, Portuguese, and … (What have I missed?) I’d love to hear from you about the rules for titles, and also if I have missed one of the many languages of readers!
Somebody recently asked me, “Why the Ukrainian Flag on some of these, but not all?” Well, simply this: there are actually two separate blogs, one on Friday which mostly covers professional matters, and one on Monday which is “whatever I darn well feel like”.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, like all freedom-loving humans, I was outraged and determined to show my support for the courageous underdog Ukrainians. Frankly, I suspected that it was a failing but righteous cause which would last three or four months. As it turns out, the Ukrainian people are the bravest, toughest, and most resilient people on the planet, and so far they’re holding their own. So, until further notice, Norm’s Notes carries the Ukrainian flag. Slava Ukraini!