“A lead should shine like a flashlight down through the piece.”
John McPhee
Let’s talk about the unsung hero of writing – the lead. You know, that opening to your piece that has the power to either capture your reader or bore them into leaving. There’s no one-size-fits-all for how to begin, but here’s the bottom line: if your first sentence doesn’t entice readers into the second, and the second into the third, you might as well be composing a eulogy for those previous sentences (Zinsser, 1976/2016, p. 54).
Leads have daunted me since my elementary school days when we were taught that the basis for good writing revolved around an introduction, body, and conclusion. Even after learning so many ways to craft one, I always found myself paralyzed over the one, two, or three sentences that were supposed to earn me a cool sticker next to my grade.
Over my years of practicing, whether it be for a school assignment or for an email marketing campaign, I’ve been guilty of recycling tired clichés and diving headfirst into mundane narratives. What I’ve learned is that the key to a strong lead lies in freshness and intention (Zinsser, 1976/2016, pp. 55-59).
Imagine starting a piece on procrastination with a shocking statistic about the number of hours people waste putting off tasks. Now you’ve got someone’s attention and they’re thinking, “Wait, is that me?” Here, you’ve laid out the ground you’re about to cover – the consequences of dragging your feet. Your next move? Tell them why they should keep reading. Start hinting at tips to break free from the bad habit.
It’s a delicate balance, a lead that invites readers to wander further without revealing all your cards. It’s about finding that sweet spot between the unexpected and the unspoken.
In the wise words of Robert M. Knight from his book, A Journalistic Approach to Good Writing: The Craft of Clarity:
“Lead with what is interesting, lead with what is newsworthy, lead with what is mysterious, lead with what is dramatic, lead with what is captivating. Inform the reader, tease the reader, anger the reader, challenge the reader, tickle the reader or prepare the reader for what is coming next. But don’t bore the reader. There is never an excuse to be boring. Picky, these readers. If your lead bores them, they retaliate. They refuse to read the rest of what you’ve written.”
You can’t risk losing your audience’s interest before you’ve even hit your stride, so grab them at the starting line.
Works Cited
Zinsser, W. (2016). On writing well: The classic guide to writing nonfiction. Harperperennial. (Original work published 1976).
Knight, R. M. (1998). A journalistic approach to good writing: The craft of clarity. Iowa State Press.
Hana Lataille 
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