Writing Leads - Start Your Article Off Right

Wants is the key word here. No one wants anything they're not interested in. Sure, there are a few people who'll accept any lead promise such as "This article is about dogs". They can't get enough about dogs. They'll read on no matter how boring the lead. But most people need to be lured into an article, a little Scheherazade, a little sprinkling of magic, that hocus-pocus from the writer that makes it impossible not to continue reading.

If your article doesn't capture the reader's complete attention right from the start, you could lose him for good. The best facts, splendid writing, a smash ending means nothing if the reader quits reading at the beginning.

Your own experience should convince you of this. How many articles have you thumbed reading those first few paragraphs? If they didn't excite it was on to something else. It's no different for your own articles, and that's why the lead should be something you work on until its right. It's your hook. Bait it properly.

First Things First

Before you can even begin the lead, however, make sure you've narrowed your article down to one potent idea. It's difficult to create a scintillating lead if you don't have a clearly focused sense of what you want the article to accomplish. Too broad a focus and you'll end up like Stephen Leacock's cowboy who jumped on his horse and rode off in all directions. That makes it difficult to come up with a sharp lead. Too narrow a focus, however, and you may find yourself padding the article, which makes the lead a bad promise.

Let's say your man focus is "How dog owners unnecessarily shorten their dog's life". This works because it's to the point, speaks to readers personally, and allows them to be proactive. It'll be easier to make an incisive lead for this than if you had made the focus, "Diseases of dogs."

Of course, any topic, broad or not, requires the most effective lead you can come up with. With enough work you can do it. But by having a clearly focused topic you're more apt to create a lead that's a grabber. And avoid the abstract. Embrace the specific.

Starting the Lead

Some writers write a first draft before doing the lead. They feel that in this way they truly know what the article is saying and the lead will leap from that. Others write anything just to get started. Perfectly all right. I, personally, need the lead finished before I can go on. Actually, once my lead is done, I find the article practically writes itself.

It becomes the skeleton onto which all my information hangs. If what I'm writing doesn't relate back to that lead then I don't use it or I incorporate it into something that does. Otherwise you're just putting in filler. If you've written about how many different varieties of dogs there are, instead change it to how owners unknowingly affect the health of different varieties.

Sometimes a lead will come to you during an interview or while investigating a topic. Those are great moments. This usually means you have a solid focus. It's also more likely to happen when you do sound research. Usually, however, it takes time. And you must take that time.

Grabbing the Reader

So, how do you make the lead interesting? That, of course, is where your skill as a writer comes in. As I said, if you've done enough research then the nugget of a beginning is in there. Now you need to shape it and present it in the most powerful form you can.

What that form takes doesn't matter as long as it does the job, is an honest representation of the article, and gets the reader to continue reading. Some leads are only one line, others a paragraph, while some go on for many paragraphs. Make it long enough to do the job. Once people get the point, however, they want the action to start. Beware of overkill.

Here are five possible ways to structure your lead for the greatest impact:

USE AN ANECDOTE - You'll find many writers using this. Generally, though not necessarily, it'll be a real life situation, a story that gets the reader deeply involved in what you're writing about. In our case, it might relate how someone found the dog they wanted, but didn't follow certain precautions that lead to the dog's death. It can be a real tear-jerker or a straight forward account of the missteps of one dog owner. People like stories. They get involved in them. But the story has to zero in on the issue and make the reader care.

STATE A STARTLING FACT - Here you make the reader sit up and take notice by showing a fact that brings into perspective a problem they aren't aware of. Most dog owners probably realize diseases can kill their dogs but did they know that "four out of five dog owners who think they're protecting their dogs are actually killing them by giving them the wrong food" Now, in this case, the promise in the lead concerns improper foods. If you want the article to be broader then you need to get a startling fact that opens other avenues of wrong-headed protection.

CREATE A PICTURE - This is a bit different than the anecdote in that it isn't a story as much as it is information that leaves the reader with a certain image. For instance, you could write, "There are dogs out there slowly losing their sight. Dogs with hair coming out in handfuls. Young dogs unable to jump on her owner's lap. Dogs everywhere slowly dying because owners didn't understand they were killing them with kindness." There's no beginning, middle, or end here as in an anecdote, just facts that build like layers of paint creating a picture of the promise you're making.

POWERFUL QUOTE - This method takes an outside authority who delivers a startling fact, or it could be someone who had been affected by what the article is about. You could begin, "If people would realize they're killing their dogs by doing things that look right we'd have a lot more healthy animals," reported Mr. X, Chief Veterinarian of the U.S. Or you might write, "I did everything I thought I was supposed to do," said Mrs. Y, holding a picture of her poodle, dead at age four, "all the things that seemed right, things the books said were good for my pet. I did them. And it killed her. I killed her."

ASK AN OPEN-ENDED QUESTION - This just get the reader thinking. He or she might not be able to answer the question, but there's a good chance they'll hope you'll do it. For instance, "what would happen if dog owners actually took the time to understand the dangers in things they do for their pets that seem perfectly helpful?" If you've asked a good question the reader will want to know the answer.

Leads can add a little mystery, be the start of a metaphor used throughout the article, or make a bold statement. They might begin one way and then jolt the reader with a completely unanticipated turn. Words can be repeated in a lead for effect. Or you can turn some commonly accepted belief on its head.

Some articles may lend themselves to leads that are truly experimental. Who knows? It really doesn't matter if you string a bunch of X's together just as long as it makes a promise readers can understand and gets them reading on.

Here's a lead from one of my published articles. It got a good response from readers. This lead is one that paints a picture with the addition of a slight twist at the end. It's also a lead that goes on for three paragraphs. I felt the extra paragraphs were needed to give the final line the greatest impact. You could make the lead that last line and it would still provide interest, but I don't think it would be as strong.

"War memorials dot the landscape of Europe proclaiming victory and defeat - even glory. But fifteen miles northwest of Limoges, France, there's a war memorial that's different. In the village of Oradour-sur-Glane you feel almost like a trespasser who chanced upon a private grief. You speak in hushed tones. And the atmosphere itself seems to whisper, "There wasn't any glory here."

Sixty years ago something terrible happened in Oradour-sur-Glane. In one nightmarish day this tiny village died. Then the shattered remains stepped outside the flow of time, a clock stopped like the heartbeats of its 642 inhabitants.

You see, in Oradour-sur-Glane, it's always June 10, 1944.

When it comes to leads, it all boils down to - make a promise you're going to keep and don't be boring.