- A lead should be concise. It shouldn't be excessively wordy or witty, but rather direct and to-the-point. Typically it should be less than 40 words.
- It should grab the reader: the purpose of a lead is to convey the main purpose of the article and make the reader want to read it.
- Be creative when writing a lead. The book lists many different examples of good leads, but what makes all of them good examples is that they are varied. Each lead (and for that matter, each article) should have its own distinctive style and flair, and should fit the story in a unique way.
- A lead is pronounced like "leed," not "led." You are not writing a piece of metal. This is VERY important.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Blog #7: Recommendations from the textbook
The textbook gives many examples of effective, informal-sounding leads for features stories. It also gives certain guidelines:
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I am so pleased you noted the final pointer so I could stop calling it a led in front of my students. :)
ReplyDeleteYour point that a lead should fit the story in a unique way is a good one. We should have lots of leads rolling in this week from the class. It will be fun to help push them toward the perfect intro to each feature.
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