Writing Captivating Leads

The most important paragraph in any article is the first. If the reader is not attracted by what is in it, he is not likely to continue reading. The first paragraph has to "grab him by the scuff of the neck" and hold him until he is well into the article, and to do this it needs a "hook" -- something that draws him in and keeps him reading.

Writers sometimes leave the most interesting and exciting material to the third or fourth paragraphs, or later, but they shouldn't. If the first paragraph doesn't draw the reader in, he will never get to the third or fourth paragraph. The first, of lead, paragraph must captivate him; it must be so intriguing that it's almost impossible for him to put it down. And indeed, there are several types of leads that are particularly effective in this respect. They are:

The anecdote or story lead. This is a short story that makes a point and is somehow related to the subject of the article. In many cases it involves a person with a problem, and shows how he solves it. It is one of the most popular types. The startling statement or shocking fact lead. If an article began with either of the following sentences, it would immediately get your attention. "The world's economy is doomed. We will not pull out of the present recession for at least five years." "There is now proof that the world has been visited by aliens." Admittedly, they sound like Tabloid headlines, and you might not want to be so blunt. But they do the trick. They entice the reader to read further. Question lead. In this case you start off by posing a question, and of course it has to be provocative or important enough to perk the readers interest. Action or conflict lead. This is, of course, closely associated with the anecdotal lead. The major difference is that there is explosive action or conflict in the first few sentences. And, of course, this indicates that the rest of the article will be just as action-filled. Mystery lead. Presenting a mystery in the first few sentences and hinting that it will be solved, can be quite effective. The shocking moment lead. It is closely associated with the action lead, but usually only contains a thought, and no action. An appeal to our emotions. This may not be as dramatic as some of the others, but it can be quite effective. Think of emotions such as love, hate, fear, pity, strong feelings, and so on. The mood-setting lead. This is usually more difficult to pull off effectively, but it is used occasionally.
Good leads are also helpful to the writer in another respect. Starting off with a good lead will help him write the rest of the article. It creates flow and momentum. It's like starting a ball rolling at the top of a hill. Once you get it going it will continue to roll on its own; in fact, it quickly speed up. So if you start with "something exciting" you should be able to write the rest of the article much faster.

Writing Captivating Leads

A question that people sometimes ask in relation to leads is: how long should they be? There's no rule for this; the best answer is: as long as they need to be to get the job done. In most cases a paragraph is enough, but don't assume that once you've got their interest you can slacken off. You may have a little breathing room, but you still have to make sure the next paragraph carries them into the third and so on.

Leads are important in both articles and books. In books, the lead will be the first paragraph of each chapter. So pay attention to how you start each chapter. It should re-captivate their interest. Also, make sure the end of the chapter entices your reader to continue on to the next chapter. The beginning of a new chapter is the most likely place he will stop and put the book down, and of course, you want him to continue reading as soon as possible. So make sure you hint at what is in the next chapter and make it intriguing.

Writing Captivating Leads
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Barry Parker is a professor emeritus (physics) at Idaho State University who now spends most of his time writing. He is the author of 23 books on science, health writing, and music, and he has written for the Smithsonian, Encyclopedia Britannica, Time-Life Books, the Washington Post, and numerous magazines such as Flyfisherman, Astronomy Magazine, and Sky and Telescope. His latest book is "You Should Write a Book: Writing it With Style and Clarity, Publishing Beautiful Pages, Selling Thousands of Copies," It is based on a course he taught at ISU for several years, and is available through his website BarryParkerbooks.com. He is also the author of "Feel Great Feel Alive" which is on health, fitness and self-improvement, and he is CEO of Stardust Press. While at ISU he did research on the DNA molecule and on Eisntein's Theory of Relativity.

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Writing Style - The Differences Between Academic and Casual Writing

Everyone knows that you should write your term papers differently from your Facebook posts, and your journal submissions should be written differently than newspaper columns. What exactly are the differences between casual and academic writing? Between formal and informal writing?

The biggest difference

The single most important difference between casual writing and academic writing is style. That is, casual writing does not require you to adhere to any published style guide. Academic writing, or any formal writing for that matter, requires that you adhere to a style guide. Some schools and teachers will go so far as to specify which style guide to use.

Writing Style - The Differences Between Academic and Casual Writing

What is a style guide?

A style guide is a manual, or document, that specifies a set of rules and standards, followed by writers to facilitate clear communication. The guide for EzineArticles.com is a web page that indicates how to write articles to be included in the EzineArticles directory, for instance. Each school and corporation can have its own, personalized style guide.

Main style guides do exist, however.

1. The Chicago Manual of Style was one of the first style guides published in the United States. Currently (as of 2010) in its 16th edition, this style guide first came out in 1906. People often refer to "the Chicago style," but people also refer to it as CMS or CMOS.

2. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is in its sixth edition (as of 2010). This style guide was developed so professors and students could read papers more easily-and so comprehension was increased. APA Style calls for only two fonts in a paper, and the body of the paper must be written in Times New Roman 12 point. Underlining, bolding, and italics are permitted in some places.

3. The Elements of Style was written to help people write clearly. While the book has its critics, it is one of the shortest style guides.

4. The MLA Style Manual, 3rd edition, is the Modern Language Association's style guide. First published in 1985, this manual is used by many universities, colleges, and students.

5. Microsoft wrote The Manual of Style for Technical Publication, and this document is used for internal and external Microsoft documentation.

Common style guide conventions vs. informal writing

Contractions

Generally, it is okay to use contractions (like it's) in informal writing. Academic writing requires writing out both words.

Technical terms

If you are writing informally to a group of people in your same field, you might use technical terms frequently and never explain them. If you are writing to a group of people that have no relationship with your industry at all, you try to take the technical words out altogether. If you are writing academically, you must explain the term the first time you use it.

Active/Passive

This is not different between informal and academic writing. Most often, active sentences are better. Both the APA and the Chicago style guides concur with this.

Grammatical person

The grammatical person is the point of view, or you might have heard it phrased as first person, second person, third person, and fourth person. The first person perspective contains a lot of "I" or "we" statements like "I fed the dog." First person is the writer's perspective. The second person is you, the person the writer is writing to. The third person is associated with pronouns such as he, she, it, and they. The third person is not me (the writer) or you (the reader). Sometimes academics use fourth-person sentences like, "One should always behave when one is in public."

Informal and casual writing uses the first, second, and third person point of view, as appropriate. While academics often write in the fourth person, I have yet to find a basis for that style of writing in style guides. Style guides facilitate clear writing and fourth person, one-statements are anything but clear.

The grammatical person needed for a sentence often depends on if the sentence is active or passive.

Citations

Academic writing requires citations. If you are state "X is true," you need to cite either where you found that statement. If you created that statement, your words must clearly show that.

Sentence length

Casual writing tends to have short sentences. (Bad casual writing has run-on sentences.) Academic, formal writing uses longer sentences. Take heed though. The goal of any writing is to get a point across, and if your sentence is too long, you will defeat that purpose.

Colloquial expressions and cliches

While "awesome," "da bomb," "the bees knees," "kids," "nose to the grindstone," and "dude" permeate Facebook, these words and phrases are not used in academic writing.

Abbreviations

All your friends might know what LOL (and in the case of the ferret community, DOL), but whenever you use an abbreviation in an academic paper, you first need to write it out and connect it to the abbreviation so people know what you are talking about.

Writing Style - The Differences Between Academic and Casual Writing
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Gwen Nicodemus is a freelance engineer/writer and a homeschooling mom. Visit her website, Notion Nexus, for unit studies, worksheets, notes, and educational videos.

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The Difference Between Formal and Informal Writing

When it comes to writing in English, there are two main styles of writing - formal and informal. Consider these two examples:

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Example 1:

This is to inform you that your book has been rejected by our publishing company as it was not up to the required standard. In case you would like us to reconsider it, we would suggest that you go over it and make some necessary changes.

The Difference Between Formal and Informal Writing

Example 2:
You know that book I wrote? Well, the publishing company rejected it. They thought it was awful. But hey, I did the best I could, and I think it was great. I'm not gonna redo it the way they said I should.

The difference between the two is obvious. The first one is formal, and the second is informal. But what is it that makes them formal and informal?

It is the style of writing, or the way we use words to say what we want to say. Different situations call for different ways of putting words together. The way we write in academic and scientific settings differs greatly from the way we write to a friend or close one. The tone, vocabulary, and syntax, all change as the occasion changes. This difference in the styles of writing is the difference between formality and informality, or the difference between formal and informal writing.

Following is a list of some of the main differences between informal and formal writing:

Informal: May use colloquial words/expressions (kids, guy, awesome, a lot, etc.)

Formal: Avoid using colloquial words/expressions (substitute with children, man/boy, wonderful, many, etc.)

Informal: May use contractions (can't, won't, shouldn't, etc.).

Formal: Avoid contractions (write out full words - cannot, will not, should not, etc.).

Informal: May use first, second, or third person.

Formal: Write in third person (except in business letters where first person may be used).

Informal: May use clichés (loads of, conspicuous by absence, etc.)

Formal: Avoid clichés (use many, was absent, etc.)

Informal: May address readers using second person pronouns (you, your, etc)

Formal: Avoid addressing readers using second person pronouns (use one, one's, the reader, the reader's, etc.)

Informal: May use abbreviated words (photo, TV, etc)

Formal: Avoid using abbreviated words (use full versions - like photograph, television, etc.)

Informal: May use imperative voice (e.g. Remember....)

Formal: Avoid imperative voice (use Please refer to.....)

Informal: May use active voice (e.g. We have notice that.....)

Formal: Use passive voice (e.g. It has been noticed that....)

Informal: May use short and simple sentences.

Formal: Longer and more complex sentences are preferred (short simple sentences reflects poorly on the writer)

Informal: Difficulty of subject may be acknowledged and empathy shown to the reader.

Formal: State your points confidently and offer your argument firm support.

These are just some of the differences between formal and informal writing. The main thing to remember is that both are correct, it is just a matter of tone and setting. Formal English is used mainly in academic writing and business communications, whereas Informal English is casual and is appropriate when communicating with friends and other close ones. Choose the style of writing keeping in mind what you are writing and to whom. But whichever style you write in - formal or informal - be sure to keep it consistent, do not mix the two.

The Difference Between Formal and Informal Writing

Anis Siddiqi is an accomplished writer and has several published works to her credit. She is a regular writer for http://www.word-mart.com

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