Great Starts

The key to writing a great article, book, or story is having a great opening line or paragraph.  The first couple lines of Tony Robbins’ book, “Awaken the Giant Within,” are great leading lines.  They really catch the attention of the reader and cause the reader to continue reading.  They read, “We all have dreams… We all want to believe deep down in our souls that we have a special gift, that we can make a difference, that we can tough others in a special way, and that we can make the world a better place.”

            The key is to reach out to people with what you believe they want to hear or read.  This book does this in the first sentence.  It catches our attention because it talks about what almost all of us want.  Whether it’s our dreams or our interests, a writer must capture that within the first couple sentences.  This means that you give the main ideas of a news story, the main purpose of the book, or whatever it may be, right at the start at a catching point.  The key is to make sure you leave it as a hook and not the entire conclusion of the story. 

            This week’s grammar error is one that isn’t too problematic towards understanding, but it does make me cringe.  Hopefully this isn’t in a bookstore’s bathroom.