What makes a good opening paragraph

Greetings from New Zealand Henneke, I design training programmes on the elearning platform modlettes. I am thoroughly enjoying and learning so much from this series. After all we are marketing our information to the learner in much the same way as you are producing your blogs.

However, we have more media than words, which gives us a broader palette to work with. Thank you for writing this article. I can see the you-opening working on my newsletter to really jab at the issue. These days I rarely study blog posts but still learn from books or long form journalism. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. It takes too long!

Thanks a lot, Henneke for your terrific tips for the yet to born copywriters like me. If Yes, please provide few examples. Thanks for your response. Hey, You are the most generous and your tips are certainly working. Here I am on taking notes with the age-old pen and paper, from so many of your pages opened on my desktop. I just started seeking and now I found your page.

I look forward to your emails and peruse them slowly. Thank you for showing us. It may be our missed destinies. Thank you so much for my compliment on my writing, Jud.

It makes me happy to know you feel inspired. What a great series of links! You know, your emails are the only ones that I read faithfully. They are so full of actionable tips.

I just spent 45 minutes writing intros for Option 1. Thank you so much for your compliment, Gisele. Gotta say.. As a complete copy noob but a driven one! Hi Henneke thank you! Openings are enchanting Content is encouraging Comment-responses are heartening. The good Lord has empowered you for sure.

Krishna Seva das. Hi, I follow your articles. I love the way you express your content. As a brand new blogger. I have my page set up and ready to go. With all these ideas in my head. But can you give me ideas on what my first few blogs should be about?

Like where did you start? I am sure you were once where I am now. Thank you for any advice. It would help. I started with describing who I wanted to write for an ideal reader profile and then decided what blog posts would be most useful to that person.

In the beginning, it felt to me like a big decision what my first blog post would be but I found out that it matters a lot less than I thought. Firstly, in the future, people start reading a blog on any random post.

Honestly your blog posts are fantastic! I love them. Thank you! Just need to put them into practice now….! Have fun! Hi Henneke. You inspire me. Learning a lot since I collided mmmm with your site a few days ago.

Yes I should write not minding there are thousands out there more experienced, knowledgeable and authoritative because my ideas are worth sharing.

Keep keeping on. Thank you for stopping by, Lubosi Jr. Thank you for stopping by, Navin. Thanks Henneke for these great tips. I am learning the different approaches so that I can skillfully use them in my writing. Stephen King suggest writing a first draft with the door closed. What he means is that the first draft is only for your eyes—no need to think about everyone who might be reading later. When you edit your first draft, you write with the door open, considering how your readers perceive your text.

This approach may help get rid of the exam feeling. I like to use the closed door approach when writing a first draft.

When proofreading, I go into the door open approach as you describe here. This is a great advice for me. I have been using this tips without realizing it. Thanks Henneke a lot. Great write-up really loved reading it and still not willing to stop I wish I could start writing the way you do and startup my own business.

Would follow your writing guidelines. Read a lot and write a lot. Reading helps you see how others express their ideas. And the more you write, the easier it becomes to express your own ideas. It takes time and practice, so be kind to yourself. Great piece of writing again. I am striving hard to master this free flowing writing technique.

Hats off to you. Happy to absorb all your great insights!! Great guidance for birthing my new blog…yikes! Thank you, Barbara. Confidence grows the more you write and publish! One among many of your evergreen post. I just finished a word post yesterday and when I started reviewing it, the opening lines disappointed me.

This article is the solution I needed. Thanks Henneke. Hello Henneke I am enjoying your tips and your website thank you very much. It would be nice to just write words but Google likes to see words article. I recommend writing for readers first If they land on your blog post, what do they expect to learn? And then it occurred to me, you dropped a few magnets that had me straining at the bit to click on. I reminded myself to continue reading your post, which I have and now I will go and read the nuggets you left along the way.

You just have to pick the one that makes the most sense for your book. That level of personal connection immediately invites the reader in. It promises that the Author is going to be honest and vulnerable, no holds barred. In this sentence, Geoffrey and I are positioned as the experts. People are coming to us for help. She understands it. If you picked up a book about team-building, culture, and leadership, you likely want answers to some questions.

And then ideally, a few sentences, pages, and chapters after that. If the reader picked up your book hoping to solve a certain problem or learn how to do something, asking them that question can immediately show them that you understand their pain.

Not by accident. We did it on purpose, and we called it Operation Scooby. It was gripping. As you read, the sentence starts making more sense, but it stays just as shocking. They had to kill the dogs or risk being discovered. This is also how the body of my paper starts. See how I gave the history first and now give the current issue? That's flow. Remember if you're picking a side, you give the other side first and then your side.

Report a problem. Arkansas State University library astate. Staff Login - LibApps. Here's your chance to introduce your topic and grab your reader's attention. The middle sentences cover the different points in your paper.

All the previous sentences have been building up to this: your thesis. Start by thinking about the question or questions you are trying to answer. Your entire essay will be a response to this question, and your introduction is the first step toward that end.

Your direct answer to the assigned question will be your thesis, and your thesis will likely be included in your introduction, so it is a good idea to use the question as a jumping off point. Imagine that you are assigned the following question:. Drawing on the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass , discuss the relationship between education and slavery in 19th-century America.

Consider the following: How did white control of education reinforce slavery? How did Douglass and other enslaved African Americans view education while they endured slavery?

And what role did education play in the acquisition of freedom? Most importantly, consider the degree to which education was or was not a major force for social change with regard to slavery. You will probably refer back to your assignment extensively as you prepare your complete essay, and the prompt itself can also give you some clues about how to approach the introduction.

Notice that it starts with a broad statement and then narrows to focus on specific questions from the book. One strategy might be to use a similar model in your own introduction—start off with a big picture sentence or two and then focus in on the details of your argument about Douglass.

Of course, a different approach could also be very successful, but looking at the way the professor set up the question can sometimes give you some ideas for how you might answer it. See our handout on understanding assignments for additional information on the hidden clues in assignments. Decide how general or broad your opening should be. If you have ever used Google Maps or similar programs, that experience can provide a helpful way of thinking about how broad your opening should be.

Try writing your introduction last. The writing process can be an important way to organize your ideas, think through complicated issues, refine your thoughts, and develop a sophisticated argument. However, an introduction written at the beginning of that discovery process will not necessarily reflect what you wind up with at the end. You will need to revise your paper to make sure that the introduction, all of the evidence, and the conclusion reflect the argument you intend.

Some people find that they need to write some kind of introduction in order to get the writing process started. Open with something that will draw readers in.