Notes on Leads

ORGANIZATION:

LEADS:

1. Sets Tone
2. Determines content and direction
3. Establishes voice and verb tense
4. (hopefully) engages the reader
5. to the writer- a good lead makes the rest of the piece easier to write and makes you want to write more.

NARRATIVE LEADS

TYPICAL (and BORING!):

It was a day at the end of June. My mom, dad, brother, and I were at our camp on Rangeley Lake. We arrived the night before at 10:00, so it was dark when we got there and unpacked. We went straight to bed. The next morning, when I was eating breakfast, my dad started yelling for me from down at the dock at the top of his lungs. He said there was a car in the lake.

ALTERNATIVE 1: ACTION

I gulped my milk, pushed away from the table, and bolted out of the kitchen, slamming the broken screen door behind me. I ran down to our dock as fast as my legs could carry me. My feet pounded on the old wood, hurrying me toward my dad’s voice. “Scott!” he bellowed again.
“Coming, Dad!” I gasped. I couldn’t see him yet -- just the sails of the boats that had already put out into the lake for the day.

ALTERNATIVE 2: DIALOGUE

“Scott! Get down here on the double!” Dad bellowed. His voice sounded far away.
“Dad?” I hollered. “Where are you?” I squinted through the screen door but couldn’t see him.
“I’m down on the dock. MOVE IT! You’re not going to believe this,” he replied.

ALTERNATIVE 3: THOUGHT!

I couldn’t imagine why my father was hollering for me at 7:00 in the morning. I thought fast about what I might have done to get him so riled. Had he found out about the way I talked to my mother the night before when we got to camp and she asked me to help unpack the car? Did he discover the fishing reel I broke last week? Before I could consider a third possibility, Dad’s voice shattered my thoughts.
“Scott! Move it! You’re not going to believe this!”

ADD-ON FROM 9 FEBRUARY CLASS:

ALTERNATIVE 4: DESCRIPTION

starts with a description of a setting or person. this has the potential to be a good lead if done correctly.

NEWSPAPER LEADS:
who, what, when, where, why, how.


When beginning a story, experiment with different leads. A great lead will GALVANIZE (vocab. word) you and make your writing easier. Choose the lead that YOU like best; your readers will like it, too . . . hopefully.