Question

When writing a title, how is it determined which words are to be capitalized and which are not?

Answer 1

The First Word is Always Capitalized, And so Are any Words that are Over 3 Characters Long, Also, Any Words That Seem Important Enough.

Answer 2

Here are the rules: Capitalize in Heading and Title:

First and last word
Nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives
Subordinating conjunctions (for example: before, after, when...)
Hyphenated compound words
First word following a colon

Do Not Capitalize:
Articles (a, an, the)
Coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, nor, so)
The word 'to' when it precedes a verb
Prepositions with fewer than five letters.

Answer 3

Good answer Rainbow,

I will simply add that the rules Rainbow listed are IN ORDER. So if it says to capitalize something DO IT - even if it is one of the things normally on the "don't capitalize" list.

What you will find though, is what Dave suggested - the 4 letter rule - is usually correct. Just remember the colon/semicolon rule if you ever use them.