{"id":21476,"date":"2019-08-31T11:39:40","date_gmt":"2019-08-31T15:39:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/?page_id=21476"},"modified":"2024-01-18T10:46:06","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T14:46:06","slug":"quotes-on-good-feature-leads","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/writing-tips\/how-to-organize-an-article\/feature-story-structure\/feature-leads\/quotes-on-good-feature-leads\/","title":{"rendered":"Quotes on good feature leads"},"content":{"rendered":"

What writers & others say<\/h2>\n

\"Quotes

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\u201cA feature story should begin with velocity. It shouldn\u2019t just mumble and meander.\u201d<\/h5>\n
\u2014 Joel Achenbach, staff writer,\u00a0The Washington Post<\/em><\/h6>\n
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\u201cProbably the best lead ever written is: \u2018Giant vampire fleas have gone on a pet-killing rampage in the Midwest,\u2019 which was in The Sun<\/em>, sold at better supermarkets everywhere.\u201d<\/h5>\n
\u2014 Dave Barry, Pulitzer Prize-winning humor columnist for the\u00a0Miami Herald<\/em><\/h6>\n
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\u201cThink of your article as a train. The lead is the engine that pulls everything.\u201d<\/h5>\n
\u2014 Stephen G. Bloom, associate professor, University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication<\/h6>\n
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\u201cThe best day is the one when I can write a lead that will cause the reader at his breakfast the next morning to spit up his coffee, clutch at his heart and shout, \u2018My God, Martha, did you read this?’\u201d<\/h5>\n
\u2014 Edna Buchanan, legendary cops reporter, Miami Herald<\/em><\/h6>\n
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\u201cPut your best stuff near the beginning and at the end; hide weaker stuff in the middle.\u201d<\/h5>\n
\u2014 Roy Peter Clark, senior scholar, Poynter Institute<\/h6>\n
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\u201cThere are so many decisions for the writer: Should I open with the news? Should I open with a scene? Should I ease the reader into the story or toss her in? How good does a lead have to be? Should I swing for a grand slam or a clean single?\u201d<\/h5>\n
\u2014 Roy Peter Clark, senior scholar, Poynter Institute<\/h6>\n
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\u201cIn journalism, and in many other forms of writing, the first words are crucial. Consider the first line of Herman Melville\u2019s \u2018Moby Dick\u2019: \u2018Call me Ishmael.\u2019 The lead, though short, holds weight \u2014 especially given the length of the novel.\u201d<\/h5>\n
\u2014 Roy Peter Clark, senior scholar, Poynter Institute<\/h6>\n
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\u201cLead with what is interesting, lead with what is newsworthy, lead with what is mysterious, lead with what is dramatic, lead with what is captivating. Inform the reader, tease the reader, anger the reader, challenge the reader, tickle the reader or prepare the reader for what is coming next. But don\u2019t bore the reader. There is never an excuse to be boring. Picky, these readers. If your lead bores them, they retaliate. They refuse to read the rest of what you\u2019ve written.\u201d<\/h5>\n
\u2014 Robert M. Knight, author,\u00a0A Journalistic Approach to Good Writing: The Craft of Clarity<\/em><\/h6>\n
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\u201cA lead should shine like a flashlight down through the piece.\u201d<\/h5>\n
\u2014 John McPhee, pioneer of creative nonfiction<\/h6>\n
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\u201cWhat surprised me when I was reporting the story? Anything that surprised you will usually surprise, interest, and inform the reader. It often helps to take a few moments to reconstruct what you thought the story would be before you went out and did your reporting and then to compare that with what you learned.\u201d<\/h5>\n
\u2014 Donald M. Murray, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, in\u00a0Writing to Deadline<\/em><\/h6>\n
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\u201cWhen you advertise fire-extinguishers, open with the fire.\u201d<\/h5>\n
\u2014 David Ogilvy, \u201cthe father of advertising\u201d<\/h6>\n
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\u201cClassically, there are two ways to begin a story:\u00a0ab ovo and in medias res. Ab ovo<\/em>\u00a0means \u2018from the egg\u2019 \u2014 from the beginning. In medias res<\/em> means \u2018in the middle of things\u2019 \u2014 in the middle of the action.\u201d<\/h5>\n
\u2014 Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, in\u00a0How to Write: Advice and Reflections<\/em><\/h6>\n
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\u201cThink of the feature lead as a close-up. The nut graph is a wide-angle shot.\u201d<\/h5>\n
\u2014 Chip Scanlan, The Poynter Institute\u2019s writing workshop director<\/h6>\n
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