Introductions - Crafting a Good Introductory Paragraph

There is one simple key to success in writing -- spend 99% of your time on the introduction. 10% on all the rest.

Your most important paragraph is your first. Your introduction. For it is the introduction which grabs your reader and tells him "You must read this!"

Consider writer's block. When does it occur? At the beginning of your writing, not in the middle. It's not the writing that causes writer's block. It's the introduction. It's the need to grab the reader's attention in the strongest, best way. That's why one suggestion for breaking writer's block is to just start in the middle. You avoid that piece of writing that in fact justifies all you are going to say in the whole rest of your book. That piece which is the hardest to write.

When writing a good introduction there are four things you should concentrate on.

First, you must focus on your reader. Too often a writer will focus on himself, on her ideas, on their wording. In the body of your writing that's bad but forgivable. If done for short periods. But not in the introduction. Always focus your introduction on the reader. Solve her problems. Touch his emotions. Promise what she wants. Make him aware of what he fears. Leave your solution until later.

Second you must grab your reader's interest immediately. Be strong. Be blunt. Don't just tap your way around the issue. Use a sledge and drive your point home. Focus on their emotions. Think motivation. Your reader must be made to want to read. Think in terms of their problems, their fears, their hopes and dreams. Don't just focus on them. That's important but it's not enough. You must cut through to the bone and blood. You must make them scream in agony or cry out "Yes, he understands". You must grab their interest with terrier teeth and shake them out of their complacency.

Which leads to my next point. Think Hemmingway not Browne or Bulwer-Lytton. Your introduction should be simple, short and to the point. Forget the "It was a dark and stormy night" and the four ports of knowledge. Focus on rabbit words. Fast. Quick. Clear. The rest of your writing can be flowery, if there is a point. But your introduction needs to be spare. One of the strongest introductions I've ever heard consisted of only three words, and one of those was a contraction. That introduction was, "They're wrong!" Could you stop reading after that? I couldn't.

Finally, don't over promise in the introduction. If you've paid attention so far, you probably can't make that mistake. But if you choose to talk solutions in your introduction be humble. Expand on pain. Hint at solutions. If you over promise in your introduction you will come off as too much hype. If you must talk solutions, talk end results. Ask questions -- "Would you like...?", "How does this sound to you?", "Would your life be easier if...?" and other indirect references.