Writing Winning Openings


writing winning openings.png

Every writer has, at least once in their lifetime, faced a blank sheet of paper or a blank computer screen and worried about how to open whatever it is they’re writing. Today, we’ll help you cut your worrying time in half with some easy go-to tips on getting started with your writing.

Writing takes many forms: formal or informal, personal or general, entertaining or informative, the list goes on and on. For each type, there are fail-safe ways of grabbing your reader from the moment they read that first paragraph.

  1. Essay

    Most essays have the goal of simultaneously informing and encouraging the reader to keep reading. By the first paragraph, you should be able to both establish your topic and leave a little tidbit for the reader to follow through. There are several ways to do this: you can start with a question related to the topic that you can answer, an interesting fact about your topic that you can expand, or a popular quote that you can relate to your topic. If the essay you’re writing is a little more personal or informal, you could also start with a funny anecdote, or you could address your reader by using second-person pronouns.

  2. Blog

    Essentially, blogs are also essays, so they tend to be more on the personal and informal side. Like essays, blogs are meant both to inform and entertain, the latter being more of a priority. When writing a blog, you can imagine it as having a conversation with someone. Don’t be afraid to use personal or second-person pronouns. You can also throw some questions at the beginning, which of course you will answer throughout your piece.

  3. Story

    When drafting your opening scene, try avoiding clichés (waking up from a dream, a long-winding history, introducing every character, etc.). Immediately, you’ll lose your reader’s interest. Before deciding on your opening scene, think about your story on a macro scale: does your story focus on a character, plot, setting, or event? The opening scene then should center on that. Plus, within the opening scene, you should also be able to introduce the main character of the story (whether or not the story is driven by character) as well as the conflict. Having a relatable figure, as well as a conflict to follow, is what would motivate your reader to keep reading.

  4. Journalistic Article

    Most journalistic articles start with paragraphs called “leads.” For general news pieces, the lead paragraph contains all the necessary details of the story, specifically, details that answer the questions who, what, where, and when. For op-eds, the status quo regarding the issue being written about and the stand must be stated as soon as possible. For feature articles, leads take on different forms: quotations, shocking statements, rhetorical questions, and more.

  5. Research Paper

    Out of all the writings on this list, this one is the most formal of all. Research papers may follow a certain format, but there are ways to stand out. Some may lay out their thesis statement immediately. However, this is useless unless the person reading it is familiar with the issue. Start by stating the status quo within a couple of sentences before the thesis statement, then follow it up with why the study you just conducted is valuable in changing the status quo for the better.

Sources:

1.Skills Practice | Writing Effective Openings | The New York Times

2.Effective Openings | Gotham Writers

3.Introductory Paragraph | EasyBib Blog

4.How to Begin an Essay: 13 Engaging Strategies | ThoughtCo.

5.How to Captivate Your Readers: 3 Ways to Craft Irresistible Opening Lines | enchantingMARKETING

*Disclaimer: Images are not ours. Credits to its rightful owners.