The lead gets to the HEART of the event. It's the single most important sentence in your story. Do not squander it by just saying an event happened. Think intently about the subject/event, synthesize your information and figure out what you would say if you only had one sentence to convey the most important information to your reader.
(It would NOT be that so-and-so gave a speech at UMass on Tuesday in 101 Bartlett Hall at 7:30 p.m. That's a classic bad lead. A good lead would convey the most significant point that so-and-so made.)
In general, leads should NOT: 1) consist of a direct quotation 2) pose a question 3) be ungrammatical/ not a complete sentence 4) use a cliche 5) be hard to read, over 35 words, convoluted, awkward or unnatural-sounding.
Write as you would speak. Be concrete, specific and use the most direct grammatical structure.
Student posts:
Leads and How to Write Them
Leads are the most important aspect of a story. They give you the most important information and sum up your entire story in under 35 words.
Direct leads are the most common type of lead, especially for breaking news because they get right to the point. They tell the reader right up front what the story is about, and usually include a few of the five W’s and an H.
Delayed leads, however, tip toe around the main point by simply hinting at its contents. They are meant to pique a reader’s interest, and engross them in the story.
“If the direct lead is the workhouse of journalism, the delayed lead is the showhorse,” according to Melvin Mencher’s Newswriting and Reporting.
Though delayed leads are mostly used for feature articles, some writers use them in news stories as a technique to draw in readers who already have some idea of the event. This technique started being used as newspapers fell by the wayside, and people started hearing about things faster through television and the internet.
Almost always, the construction of lead should be subject-verb-object. This is the most direct way to answer what happen and who was involved. It is also the way most people talk, and makes it very readable.
You don’t want your audience to have to read over your lead a couple times to understand what you’re talking about, so readability is an important, yet sometimes overlooked, part. In addition to s-v-o construction, you can do this by using concrete nouns and colorful verbs. Animated verbs keep the lead interesting, but concrete words keep it simple and easy to understand.
Although writing a lead can be difficult and stressful, it is an important skill for all reporters. And in the words of John McPhee, “I’ve often heard writers say that if you have written your lead you have 90 percent of your story.”
The Function of A Lead
The lead of a story captures the heart of the event in as few words as possible. It should spark an interest in the reader while simultaneously informing them of a current situation. Many journalists struggle to come up with leads that are both informative and creative. John McPhee, a New Yorker writer said, “I’ve often heard writers say that if you have written your lead you have 90 percent of your story.”
All writers can agree that the lead is a struggle because it is often difficult to understand what the heart of the story really is. Experts say that most of the time, the idea for a lead comes to the journalist during the reporting. Reporters John W. Chancellor and Walter R. Mears say that the best way to write great leads “is to think of them in advance – to frame the lead while the story is unfolding.”
A journalist must also focus on the questions a reader might ask while writing the lead. They should give the reader a solid background and somehow incorporate the 5 w’s and the h – who, what, where, when, why, and how.
Reporters often bury the lead within the story because they mistakenly put something else at the beginning of the story without really noticing the heart of the story. However, sometimes a reporter will delay the lead for dramatic effect.
The two types of leads are direct leads and delayed leads. A direct lead usually contains specific information about what happened, when the event happened, where the event was, and the source of their information. A delayed lead, however, allows readers to start reading long stories because the essential information is purposely placed later in the story. The reader is compelled to read until he/she reaches the lead.
