Sealing The Deal With A Quality Introduction

There are nearly an unlimited amount of reasons why you might not read this, but if you want to know some tips on making your introductions stand out from the rest, then you should take the time to read it. Do I got your attention? Well, good, then let’s jump right on in.

What’s The Point?

The purpose of the introduction within any article should be to generate interest while informing readers of what you are writing about. It very well might be the single most valuable part to all articles, and because no matter how much effort you put into writing, if it does not grab the reader’s attention, it wasn’t much of a worthwhile attempt. In other words, you wasted your time. Make it habit to focus on creating a killer introduction for all your articles so that doesn’t happen.

Many people might not realize this, but most magazine editors judge an entire article (even before its creation) from one or two paragraphs that introduce the article in question. It is, essentially, the primary selling point for the rest of the writing. Just as is the case with magazine editors, it is also true for the readers. You want to generate interest, but also generate the desire to read more. If your introduction is appealing to a magazine editor, then it is should be appealing to the reader. It is something to think about.

On to the good stuff — some ideas for spicing up those introductions:

Paint a Picture and Appeal To The Senses

What better way to intrigue someone than by painting a picture for them. Create the situation so that the reader can understand and visualize it in their mind. “The sights of flashing neon lights, the sounds of money falling from slot machines, and the pleasure of experiencing the city of Las Vegas was absolutely phenomenal, and you would be a fool to never experience what I did this past week.” If I was thinking about doing research about visiting Las Vegas, then seeing that would just beg me to read on. It is certainly a lot better than “I really enjoyed my summer vacation at Las Vegas….”

Take It Back

I’ll never forget about America Online, 9/11, and Michael Jackson’s Thriller video. These things are events that most people know about, and if you can appeal to someone’s memories, then it is a great start to a great article. This method of writing seems to be used more within magazines, but I think it can be applied to blogs as well (if done correctly). If your blogging within a certain niche (which should be true in most cases), and your readers are fairly smart, then you could bring up events that are even more relevant. For example, if you are writing about video games, you can’t go wrong with bringing up Mario.

Shockingly, it Works

The purpose of writing something shocking in an introduction might be a cheap way of getting views, but it certainly can get people’s attention. It is pretty much common sense as to how you would approach this. Just make sure to avoid upsetting people with irrelevant introductions.

Statistically Speaking

Hitting your readers with some statistics right off the bat is another great way to generate interest. People love to eat — feed them. Statistics don’t lie (depending on who you talk to) so they can be a great way to reach out to your readers. I am envisioning a blog out there that starts every post with a statistical figure, and I am sure it probably does exist. However, statistics get the point across, and it can generate interest in the rest of your article.

Relating To Your Readers

Last, but certainly not least, you should try to relate to you readers with whatever you are writing. I can relate to all of you reading this, because most of you interested in writing/blogging. However, there are other topics that might require more effort to relate to others. The greatest writers can do this with ease.

This might be the end, but it should be the beginning of writing quality introductions for your content. Got some more tips on writing a killer introduction, be sure to post them in the comments section below. Get involved!