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Engaging Beginnings: Crafting Compelling Leads for Your Writing Journey

Explore different types of leads - dramatic, leisurely, beginning at the ending, introducing the narrator, misleading, and ambiguous - to captivate readers and set the tone for your narrative. Learn to hook readers from the start and keep them intrigued throughout.

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Engaging Beginnings: Crafting Compelling Leads for Your Writing Journey

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  1. Beginnings From Ralph Fletcher What a Writer Needs

  2. The Dramatic Lead “You would usually be born from you own mother’s stomach, but not me…” • Dramatic leads are eye catching and hold the readers attention • Makes you want to finish the entire story • Have an appropriate lead • Give students options other than when on one

  3. Starting in the Middle of a Scene • Throws the reader into the action • Immediacy- sense of here and nowness • Can begin with an auditory sound or dialogue • Example: “Crash! The baseball smashed into the window.”

  4. Leisurely Leads • What is it? • A longer lead that can build suspense while creating an introspective tone for the narrative • A longer lead that gives the reader entry, and provides them with an idea of how the rest of the writing will be Example: a rambling description of a place, feeling or experience (not punchy or to the point) If you consider the beginning of a hard news story, a leisurely lead would be the opposite!

  5. Beginning at the Ending • “One day last spring, Louis, a butcher, turned into a fish. Silvery scales. Big lips. A tail. A salmon.” • Starts at the end of a story and explains how such an ending came about. • Used by journalists or essayists who begin with a surprising, provocative argument. • Does not give the reader a sense of surprise, rather gives them satisfaction of knowing how the story ends.

  6. Introducing the Narrator • What is it? • A lead designed to introduce the character who will tell the story • Designed to connect the reader with the main character • Ex: humorous intro, unreliable narrator, bold introduction, start with a question. • Moby Dick, Three Little Pigs told from wolf’s perspective

  7. The Misleading Lead • Writers who explore powerful, personal subjects often begin with a blurting lead that tells too much too fast. • Example: • Last summer Gilly, my pet guppy, had fifty-three babies. • Writers need to be careful; readers may feel cheated, manipulated, and stop trusting the writer.

  8. The Ambiguous Lead • Lack of clarity can be intriguing • Vagueness entices readers to continue reading to figure out the unclear beginning • Example: “From behind the tree I saw a man-like figure lumber into the forest. Is it a man? Is it something else? We race ahead to find out…”

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