Varying the lead, opening paragraph, is the key to good writing. You want to inform and grab the reader's attention. You will also emphasize what is the essential information.

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Adjective | Adverb | Allusion | Atmosphere | Causal | Contrast | Descriptive | Direct Address/Imperative | First Person | Gerund | Infinitive | Parody | Participle | Prediction/Definition | Preposition | Punch/Astonisher | Question | Quotation/Direct Quotation | Suspended Interest | Temporal

[ ACTIVITIES ]

1. An ADJECTIVE lead begins with an adjective describing the subject of the copy. Adjective leads provide color and descriptive appeal.

Another happy, sunny day. I am having breakfast on Main Street, USA, the long shoplined street that leads to Cinderella's Castle -- the heart of Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. Music fills the air. Friendly birds pick crumbs off the restaurant's balustrade. And here's a gaily decked out pony pulling smiling visitors in a festooned wagon. (The Wall Street Journal, "Walt's Wonderful World Turns Out to Be Flat," Manuela Hoelterhoff, 1982.

Suddenly everything that had come before acquired a purpose. The out-of-the-money
finishes as a green teenager in Sarajevo: not all bad. The falls in Calgary: laced with good.
The failures outdoors in Albertville: marbled with lessons. Even the Feb. 14 disaster in the
500 meters at these Olympics, where he, the overwhelming favorite, had slipped and finished
eighth, seemed of a piece with what occurred last Friday in Hamar's Vikingskipet skating hall.
The unlikely had happened when Dan Jansen lost; why shouldn't something astonishing
happen again? (Sports Illustrated, Feb. 28, 1994)

3. The literary, historical or mythological ALLUSION lead consists most frequently of a quotation or reference to a literary, historical or mythological character. When the reference is natural and appropriate, the writer is able to communicate more about the subject than the reporting of the current story would convey.

Think of British Telecommunications PLC as a modern "redcoat" that has gotten
tired of marching in parade formation and wants to become a high-tech rebel, shooting
at the world's richest targets. That's the ambition that lies behind BT's $21 billion
deal last week for the Washington area's telecommunications superstar MCI
Communications Corp. (The Washington Post, Nov. 10, 1996)

In a world where musicians are lucky to get their full Warholian 15 minutes, Quincy
Jones has remained the Dude for half a century, from Sinatra to Snoop. Q, as he's also
known, must be the world's most soulful mogul: … (Us, Nov. 1996)

4. An ATMOSPHERE lead consists of a group of phrases that help to portray the setting or mood for a reader. It should be used only when the setting or mood of an event is interesting or significant.

KABIZA, Rwanda, Nov. 16 - They filled the village center for hours, waiting
for brothers and fathers, sisters and mothers. The sun grew hot, and they waited.
Rain fell hard and long, and still they waited. (The Washington Post, Nov. 17, 1996)

5. A CAUSAL lead emphasizes the reason or cause of the action and begins with such words as "since" and "in an attempt."

FOXBORO, Mass., Nov. 17 - Since John Elway joined the Denver Broncos, they
have not lost to the New England Patriots. Since Terrell Davis got to Denver, the
games have not been close." (The Washington Post, "Davis Runs Wild Yet Again,"
Nov. 18, 1996)

6. The CONTRAST lead should be sharp and vivid to be most effective. It is used to point out opposites and extremes.

Everything good and bad that people say about Paris is true. On a mild April
evening the Champs Elysees can be the most romantic spot on Earth, until
two punks on a dirt bike come barreling out of nowhere, rip the purse off your
girlfriend's arm, scatter a flock of nuns and escape down the boulevard.
(The Washington Post, "In Paris, An Artist Regains His Touch," Nov. 16, 1996)

PORT CLINTON, OHIO - Walking through a field of thick grass taller
than you are is a novel experience at any time, but ploughing through one in the
lavender hour before dawn while seated in a tiny boat called a punt is downright
surreal. Welcome to the habitat of the duct, and the domain of the duck hunter.
Welcome to the rich, alluvial world in which a punt is not a kick but a boat,
wigeon is not a bizarre British card game but a species of duck, and a yellow lab is
not an overweight tawny dog forced to wear a red bandana but a lean, working
retriever. (The New York Times, Nov. 10, 1996)

7. The DESCRIPTIVE lead consists of a description of either a person, place or event. Used when a comparatively few words can formulate a vivid image in the reader's mind, it is closely related to the ATMOSPHERE lead.

GOMA, Zaire, Nov. 17 - Vianey Kanyahamanga's bones nearly spiked through
his skin. Shadows engulfed his eyes. His legs were as thin as the sticks on which
he lay. (The Washington Post, "Rwandan Refuge Trek Leaves Trail of Dead and
Dying," Nov. 18, 1996)

A 4-inch round of sizzling ground beef nestled on a warm bun, crowned with
bright sauces and fresh veggies, broadcasting an aroma so irresistible that it
entices everyone within sniffing distance: That's the all-American hamburger.
We've been devouring burgers in the U.S. since 1904, when they were popularized
at the St. Louis World's Fair. White Castle - the world's first burger chain -
originated in Wichita, Kan., 75 years ago. (Parade, "Of course You'd Rather Have
a Burger," Nov. 17, 1996)

8. DIRECT ADDRESS or IMPERATIVE lead usually implies the second person voice rather than directly use the pronoun. It will pull the reader ("you") into the passage.

Forget dreary vote counts. The only question now is, How strong a hold does the
42nd President have on the popular imagination? Will Sotheby's teem with spend-
thrifts three decades from now when Chelsea Clinton auctions off her father's
jogging shorts? (Time, "Clinton Pop," Nov. 18, 1996)

9. Occasionally the FIRST PERSON is used for a more intimate lead. Often this is used by columnists who have established a rapport with readers.

I have the new Michael Jordan Cologne in my office. I don't actually have a bottle.
I have a sample card that I picked up at Foot Locker - which I admit is not generally
my first choice for shopping for a personal fragrance. I sniffed the card, found the odor
rather perky, left it on my desk and thought nothing more about it until my friend
Nancy walked in the office and asked me if I'd had the carpet sprayed for scarab
beetle infestation. (The Washington Post, Tony Kornheiser, Nov. 10, 1996)

10. A GERUND lead begins with a verb ending in "ing" in a noun-like form. Use gerund leads sparingly.

BUJUMBURA - Power-sharing between Tutsis and Hutus had signally failed
to calm Burundi's ethnic violence; many parts of the country had become
savage no-go areas, out of the government's control. The power-sharing, formed
in the wake of an attempted coup in 1993, itself collapsed. (The Economist,
"Anybody there?" July/Aug. 1996)

Reading Jessica Hagedorn's fiction is rather like riding in a cab - honking, swerving,
radio blasting - through a crowded foreign capital. More exhilarated than alarmed, we
hold on for dear life, absorbing the sight, smells and flavors of a tropical city…
(The New York Times Book Review, Francine Prose, Sept. 15, 1996)

11. An INFINITIVE lead uses a verb form along with "to." Infinitive leads provide and emphasize action at the beginning of copy.

To understand what golf is now, don't watch Tiger Woods. Watch who watches
Tiger Woods. Young black women in tight jeans and heels. Tour caddies, back out
on the course after hauling a bag 18 holes. White arbitrageurs with cell phones. Giant
groups of fourth-graders, mimicking their first golf swings. Pasty golf writers who have
not left the press tent since the days of Fat Jack. Hispanic teens in Dallas Cowboys
jerseys trying to find their way around a golf course for the first time in their lives. Bus
drivers and CEOs and mothers with strollers catching the wheels in the bunkers as they go.
(Sports Illustrated, 1996)

12. The PARODY lead consists most frequently of a play on words of a well-known song, poem, quotation or book or motion picture title. Should be used only when the parody is appropriate and easily recognized and not trite.

Threescore and six years ago, in the riverbank town of Muscatine, Iowa,
a warehouse laborer named George Long founded a semipro baseball team
and became its manager. Those Muscatine Red Sox are still going strong …
(Sports Illustrated, 1996)

A rolling puck gathers no goals, but an eager defenseman can spin his team into
overtime. (The Washington Post, "Tinordi Helps Caps Rebound for 2-2 Tie," Nov. 20, 1996)

Take me out to the ballgame,
Take me out with the crowd,
Buy me a computer with modem and mouse,
I'm in the ballpark and yet in my house …
(U.S. News & World Report, "The Grand Old Game, On the Internet," July 1, 1996)

13. A PARTICIPLE lead begins with a verb ending in "ing" or "ed" in an adjective phrase. It can incorporate both action and description in the first word. Use participle leads sparingly.

FERTILE, Minn. - Anchored to the windswept prairie by a grain elevator and
a dead-end railroad road track, this town of 900 people seems as remote from the
dark side of cyberspace as it is from the lights of Times Square. (The New York Times,
"On Minnesota Prison Computer, Files to Make Parents Shiver," Nov. 18, 1996)

14. PREDICTION and DEFINITION leads should be used sparingly.

One day early in the next century, several people will land on Mars. They will put on
spacesuits and leave their vehicle, bounding over red rocks under a pink sky. After this
exhilarating day, seen on Earth by billions, they will move into a cluster of habitats
already on site. They will spend a year living there making scientific studies, and then
they will return to Earth. Another team will cycle in. Back at home we will start to take
the base for granted. Nevertheless, something very big will have begun. (Newsweek, Oct. 14, 1996)

15. A PREPOSITION lead begins with a prepositional phrase and provides description.

On my library shelf rests a shell from the South Seas, banded, beaded, fluted and
fringed. The other day, I took it down and, closing my eyes, ran my fingers along its
elegant spiral coil. Some would argue that what I held in my had was proof that
living creatures could not possibly have arisen through evolution. Like the rose's
bloom or the human eye, such a shell seems far too intricate and beautiful to have
been fashioned by natural selection acting upon random genetic mutations, a process
skeptics disparage as blind chance. (The New York Times, Nov. 10, 1996)

16. The PUNCH or ASTONISHER lead consists usually of a short, snappy sentence set off in a paragraph by itself with the summary of other facts in the second paragraph. It is used when the writer has one fact that is extremely important or startling.

Something's wrong here.
He hasn't touched his pack of Camels. He has let his first cup of black coffee
get cold. He's eating his Swiss-cheese omelette like Emily Post on Valium,
nibbling gingerly from one end to the other. He's speaking very slowly and calmly,
smiling frequently, and has uttered the f word only once, almost in a whisper, in the
past hour and a half. Who is they guy having breakfast at this Brooklyn diner, and
what has he done with Steve Buscemi? (Us, Nov. 1996)

It was the strangest of games.
After 1,031 yards in offense, 68 points, 17 penalties, 7 turnovers and 4 overtime
field goal attempts that were missed or nullified by penalties, Arizona place
kicker Kevin Butler redeemed himself by making a 32-yard field goal with 33
seconds left in overtime to give the Cardinals a 37-34 victory over the
Washington Redskins in front of 51,929 at RFK Stadium. (The Washington Post,
"Cardinal Passes for 522 Yards; Butler Kicks Field Goal …," Dave Sell, Nov. 11, 1996)

17. The old standby is the QUESTION lead. This should be the last resort. They are usually banal and ask the obvious.

How can something as small as the nose recognize the nearly infinite number of
smells in the world? It's a question that has long mystified biologists. (The Washington Post,
"Biology: Unraveling How the Nose Knows," David Brown, Nov. 18, 1996, A2)

If less than 10% of your customers judged a product effective and if seven out of 10
said they were more confused than enlightened by it, you would drop it, right? So, why
don't more companies drop their annual job-performance reviews?
(The Wall Street Journal, "It's Time to Evaluate Your Work, and All Involved Are Groaning," Timothy D. Schellhardt, Nov. 19, 1996)

18. A QUOTATION or DIRECT QUOTATION lead begins with a quote from the subject of the copy or photograph. It is used when what is said is more striking or important than the person who made the statement. The direct quotation should be revelatory or original.

WASHINGTON - "I don't like to deal," insists Senate Majority Leader Trent
Lott, the new GOP strongman on Capitol Hill. "I like to get results."
(The Wall Street Journal, Nov. 17, 1996)

When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back
to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widows, so that the Lord
your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. - Deuteronomy 24:19
On a dreary Saturday morning in October, five would-be apple pickers
gathered at the Potomac Gardens housing complex in Southeast Washington,
bearing plastic bags and buckets for an after-the-harvest harvest at Moormont
Orchards, 100 miles away in Orange County, Va. (The Washington Post,
"Reaping After the Harvest," Chris Nguyen, Nov. 14, 1996

19. A SUSPENDED INTEREST lead consists of a group of words or phrases that help to portray the setting or mood for a reader. Used only when the setting or mood of an event is interesting of significant. This is a general category that may include one of the other types of leads listed; for example, ATMOSPHERE or DESCRIPTIVE leads.

TOKYO - Rie Fukushima took a deep breath of cold winter air, wrapped her year-old
daughter in a blanket and took the steps she had been dreading - across the street and
into the neighborhood park. (The Washington Post, "Tokyo's Forbidden 'Park Moms'
Daunt Newcomers," Nov. 18, 1996)

What you notice first when you open The Family of Man after 40 years is the utter
absence of irony. Very strange. Very, very strange. No copy contradictions, no
lethargic resentment, none of the smoggy brainlock you've come to expect from
books of photographs and all the other arts in America in the quarter century since
Vietnam. Strange, indeed. (The Washington Post, "Pictures From Another Planet,"
Henry Allen, Nov. 17, 1996, W18)

20. A TEMPORAL lead features a time element and often begins with "while," "where," "as" or "since." Make sure that time is most important when this lead is used.

SEATTLE - More than 100 years ago, this city was in the grip of an economic
crisis.
White workers blamed immigrants for stealing their jobs. And one violent night,
the entire Chinese community, 350 people, was herded onto steamer ships bound
for San Francisco. (USA TODAY, Maria Puente, Nov. 17, 1996)

MIAMI, Nov. 18 - Almost two minutes before ValuJet Flight 592 plunged into
the Everglades, its passengers and crew knew they were in serious trouble, and
one man even used his cellular phone to make one last call to his wife, according
to documents released here today. (The Washington Post, Nov. 19, 1996)

 

WHAT TO DO NOW? GET ACQUAINTED WITH MODELS.

• Begin reading the newspapers, newsmagazines and feature magazines in your home and library.
• Find an example of each of the 20 types of leads. Cut each out and neatly glue to a 3x5 card which you will label using one of the 27 titles given.
• Place them in an alphabetical collection of leads. Include the source of the lead: publication, headline or title of article, author, date.