Great Lead Writing
One of my favorite leads of all time comes from one of my students:
“It ‘s in the Happy Meals, the Lunchables, and the lunch line. It’s in the frozen dinners and on the delivery pizza. The main course, the samples at the food court, the cook out at a picnic. But the one place meat wasn’t: Averi Edwards’ plate.”
-Ashly Shay “Fueled by Fruit,” 2011 Minotaur
So often stories about vegetarians have leads that preach, use bad puns or focus on the ubitquitous “you.” Here she plays with the mysteriousness of the food item, letting it presence tease the reader. In the third sentence, she turns it around it a specific subject, naming the item as meat. In this way she avoids the biases some students may have about vegetarianism. By the time they’ve read to this sentence, they’re hooked by the play with words and indulged to keep reading.
“Her weight’s gone up. Gray hairs have sprouted. She’s gotten used to flat shoes instead of heels and eggplant-shaped dresses instead of the gowns and furs she used to wear. But after a decade in prison for having her husband killed, Betty Lou Haber, closing in on 50, is still as polite and sweet sounding as ever.
“There’s never a night that I go to bed and don’t say my prayers,” she said last week. “I just do the best I can.”
And that’s why Albert Haber’s surviving children are worried.”
“A murder story” by David Finkel
St.Petersburg Times, May 26, 1985
From ASNE’s gallery of award winning leads, this lead takes a scene that seems obvious, a sweet old lady aging, and complicates the character in the third sentence by mentioning that she had her husband murdered. The next sentence, a direct quote embodying the sweet old lady role, pushes the character a little further. This leads to the suspense in the next paragraph, where the children are worried. Here the presence of worry challenges the reader’s perception of this character, inspiring them to read on and judge further.
This article contains more great leads, but they’re from 1923. The language is different, but they still do a great job of creatively grabbing the reader’s interest.
This article finds six great leads in the New York Times all in one day.
Thoughts on Lead Writing
“I search for a lead. I guess I’ve always been a believer that if I’ve got two hours in which to do something, the best investment I can make is to spend the first hour and 45 minutes of it getting a good lead, because after that everything will come easily.”
N. Don Wycliff, Chicago Tribune
Sometimes the most difficult part of writing is just getting started. In that sense, the lead is the most difficult part of writing. It should be worth investing the time into writing.
“Don’t bury your lead…The hook, the thing that makes the reader interested in reading the story. Hit them with the news, the peg? Why are you writing this story? What’s it all about?”
Mark Fritz, The Associated Press
This idea goes back to the question: “Who cares?” If the reader doesn’t understand what the article is about, then the lead isn’t effective. There’s no incentive to read on.
“My advice to young people is to know your ending before you start writing.”
Ken Fuson, The Baltimore Sun
The lead is only part of the organization of the article. Whether the article uses an inverted pyramid or feature style organization, the writer needs to know where the story is going to go so they can carefully craft it. These quotes on leads and more like them can be found here.
This article contains some great ideas on helping to find that great lead and, ultimately, the story itself.
Lead Writing Resources
NewsU.org has an interactive training session called “The Lead Lab” with instructional content by Chip Scanlan on lead writing. In the course, students learn about the basics of lead writing, while getting the chance to manipulate and create leads and reading some inspiring examples.
This video from cubjournalism.com features Marist College Professor Mark Grabowski introducing leads to young journalists.
On hsj.org, there is a lesson plan on lead writing created by Susan Fergueson. It includes worksheets and clear direction for students to improve their lead writing skills.
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