How to Write a Strong Begining
Ways to Grab the Reader's Attention
Mar 7, 2009 Megge Hill Fitz-Randolph
Then the King of Hearts tells Alice that the way to begin is to "Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop." This is sound advice. But how to follow this advice is a stranger matter. Here are some things to consider when beginning a piece of writing.
Points to Consider
- A really good beginning cannot be written until it’s understood what the paper is about. This is because writing is first and foremost a process of discovery. The beginning can be a mystery right up to the third, fourth, or fifth draft. The best beginnings are written near the end of the drafting process.
- The beginning is how you want to grab your reader’s attention. This is not easy, knowing that most people would rather do anything than sit down and read. So think about the sort of beginning that grabs your attention and see if you can begin your essay the same way.
- Once you have a strong idea of the overall direction and tone of your essay, you can include this in your opening paragraph. Thus the tone or overall point to your story or essay will be introduced right at the top and is referred to as the thesis.
Possible Ways to Begin
- Anecdote: Beginning with a brief story that in some way captures the essence of your larger narrative or essay is an often used and very effective start.
- Analogy/Comparison: This serves a piece of writing that is about some subject that might at first seem dull or uninteresting. You can snag the reader’s attention by drawing an analogy to something that grabs more.
- Dialogue/Quotation: Sometimes opening with the voice of another person, whether it be something overheard somewhere or read, can help focus the paper.
- Irony or Humor: This is an easy way to catch a reader’s attention. Just be sure it is appropriate to the piece you’re writing. You don’t want to begin with a joke and then go on to discuss the black plague in the middle ages. This would probably just win you an award in the “bad taste” category.
- Short Generalization: “It is a miracle that New York works at all.” E.B. White
- Startling Claim: “It is possible to stop most drug addiction in the United States within a very short time.” Gore Vidal
- Rhetorical Questions: “Just how interconnected is the animal world? Is it true that if we change any part of that world we risk unduly damaging life in other, larger parts of it?” Matthew Douglas
Beginnings to Avoid
- Apology: I am a college student and do not consider myself an expert in the computer industry, but here goes.
- Complaint: I’d rather write about a topic of my own choice than the one that is assigned, but here goes.
- Webster’s Dictionary: Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines the verb to snore as follows: “to breathe during sleep with a rough hoarse noise due to vibration of the soft palate.”
- Platitude or Cliche: America is the land of opportunity, and no one knows it better than (fill in the blank).
- Reference to Title: As you can see from my title, this essay is about why we should continue to experiment with human transplants.
Writer’s Tip: Sometimes the only way to get going on a piece of writing is by using one of these clunky openers. They serve as a sort of spark plug for the writing engine and can get you into your main material fast. Then, and this is very important, go back and REMOVE the unseemly clunker and replace it with a far more elegant and enticing beginning.
For more articles on writing see How To Get Your Paper Going.
Source: Models for Writers, 9th edition. Rosa, A. and Eschholz, P.(2006): Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's.
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