This week share a great beginning from a newspaper,
magazine, website or book, explaining why it worked. Remember to do this in
such a way that your readers learn something about how to begin a piece of
writing.
One of my favorite websites to
follow online is Bustle.com. It is a website that posts articles that are
entertaining and relatable. They cover a variety of topics ranging from
entertainment to lifestyle to fashion and news. They came to mind when I read
this week’s topic because part of the reason I enjoy their articles is the
quirky leads. For example, they recently
posted an article on “14 Harmless Things That Don’t Deserve All The Hate They
Get” The opening sentence was: “There are some things in this world that are
universally acceptable to hate, including the series finale of How I Met You
Mother, any kind of vegetable that ever grew, and airport security lines.”
It’s a great lead because it opens
the conversation on the topic in a humorous way that makes the reader want to
keep reading. They quickly brought up things readers might actually dislike to
create a base point for the discussion on things that don’t deserve the hate.
Tip 20 in the slides say to have fun and Bustle.com works hard to do that. I
think the best thing anyone can learn from their example is that leads don’t
have to be dry and simply informative introductions.
Editing mistake of the week: My
best friend flew out to visit so I’ve been having a small “staycation” in her hotel. This morning when I went to order
room service I couldn’t help but laugh at the editing mistake the restaurant
had made on the menu.
How I would edit it: Remove the capitalized letters, add a coma in the list and offer warm maple
syrup rather than worm maple syrup.
Thick french toast battered with eggs
& cinnamon, warm maple syrup and topped with whipped cream.
I agree that leads should be fun, as long as the subject of the article is fun. The finale of How I Met Your Mother was terrible though.
ReplyDeleteWorm syrup! What a terrible mistake to find on a menu! Good catch.
ReplyDelete