Journalists call it the lede, the first paragraph of a news story. It might better be called the hook or the lure. It's what entices readers, grabs them so they'll move on to the second and subsequent paragraphs. In these days of information glut, bad lede = bad story. You might just as well not have wasted your time writing all those subsequent paragraphs.
Still with me?
No shortage of advice exists on how to write a lede. If you want to go by rules, you can easily find them. Pick up many journalism texts and they'll tell you to cram who, what, where, when, why and how with as few words as possible into that first paragraph. It's a workable system. It's also a formula for dull. When I taught journalism students and trained rookie reporters, I stuck with four rules: keep it simple; avoid clichés; avoid treacle; and shoot for clever but not too clever.
In the days of manual typewriters, the joke – old even then – was that you weren't really thinking hard enough about what to put first on that blank piece of paper until beads of blood appeared on your forehead. But it's not really that tough. Saying so is not meant to downplay wordsmiths who write ledes (and stories) that make you want to read them over and over in hopes some of their skills with the language will magically transfer to you. What I'm saying is that, given some practice, nearly anyone can write a solid, alluring lede without breaking a sweat. At least not a bloody one.
A good place to start is by doing what all of us here do every day - read some news and feature stories. And then imitate. As examples, I've picked four from today's newspapers and a magazine and three from Daily Kos candidate diaries last week. Naturally, there's a good deal of subjectivity in any such selection. Writing is not calculus. You may turn your nose up at some of my choices. My purpose here is to provide parameters, not prescriptions.
First, from The New York Times:
They appeared on the scene with blustery talk and bravado, dismissing her as weak, spineless and out of touch with New Yorkers. Replace her, they said, with me.
We don't know who she is, but we sure do want to find out.
From the Washington Post:
The Republican Party's strategy since early last year of lock-step opposition to the Obama administration's major legislative initiatives has proved to be less bankable than some party leaders may have anticipated.
From Mother Jones:
Idaho veterinarian, elk rancher, and political hopeful Rex Rammell first attracted national attention last year when he joked about buying "Obama tags" to hunt the president. Now the conservative activist is running to be the GOP's candidate for governor of Idaho. His platform? Revving up right-wing militias so they are "prepared" to deal with the growing threats to freedom posed by a federal government bent on "socializing" the country.
From the Los Angeles Times:
While some of the world's top women golfers battle this weekend at the LPGA's Kraft Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage, another competition of sorts will play out beside the sparkling pools of two of Palm Springs' hottest resorts, where rival night life promoters will be looking to claim supremacy in the popular and lucrative lesbian party scene surrounding the tournament.
What's wrong with that one? It's too complicated, the sentence is too long and it's overfilled with adjectives. Personal taste, I know, because it does its job of who, what, where, etc. But it does it poorly.
The editor who wrote the subhead produced a much better lede:
It's 20 years and counting as party promoters plug in to the vibe at Palm Springs' annual convergence of golf and lesbians.
From Land of Enchantment:
I ain't rolling in dough, but I'm a little better off now than a few years ago. I can afford to make (small) political donations and decided to do so in time for the end of this quarter. I went through a few steps to make my decisions.
From Avenging Angel:
If Republicans suffered a devastating defeat this week with the passage of President Obama's health care reform bill, Mitt Romney was the biggest loser of all. While the 2012 White House hopeful declared that "President Obama betrayed his oath to the nation," even conservatives acknowledged that the individual insurance mandate Massachusetts Governor Romney signed into law is virtually identical to the federal one he now decries. And as his long history of acrobatic flip-flops and painful political contortion acts on abortion, immigration reform, Iran and so much else show, Mitt Romney is opposing himself yet again.
From Tom White:
As the health care debate raged on Capitol Hill just over a week ago, Lee Terry tipped his hand to a reporter about what he wants: a Republican Majority so he can "defund" and repeal health care.
The Election Digest begins below the fold.
Previous Digests: March 27, March 20, March 13, February 20..
Posted: 2010-04-03 19:00:05
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