Monday, September 24, 2012

More on leads...

In my search for various types of leads, I found these three:




The first story, "Ravens' Torrey Smith has inspiring game hours after brother's death," begins with a narrative lead. This piece begins with very little information as to the rest of the story, but is effective in that it grabs your attention. As a reader, you find yourself asking, "Why?" which encourages you to read the rest of the story.
The second story, "Maine lawyer takes responsibility for school bomb threats," uses a different type of lead- the "delayed identification" lead. In the lead to this piece, the author writes that the story involves a "prominent Maine defense attourney," but doesn't say who this attorney is until the second paragraph. Additionally, in the lead it is written that the attorney will not spend time behind bars, but it isn't explained why until later. This lead confronts the reader with a few details about the story, and then later goes on to clarify them.
The third and final story, "Eating for Health, Not Weight," begins with a "startling statement" lead. It hits the reader with a fact- that two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese- which acts as a segue into the story's main focus of what people need to understand to effectively lose weight.
These different leads all hit the reader in a different way, and serve different purposes. I'd say the narrative lead is most effective for an emotional story, like the one above. The dramatic narrative that starts the story sets the reader up for what's to come. The delayed identification lead leaves the reader wanting more, and the startling statement surprises the reader, making them want an explanation. What these three types of leads have in common is that they immediately engage the reader, and allow them to question what's to come in the rest of the story.
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