Take the Lead
Student Name
A well-written lead begins the story with strength and purpose and helps
Variety is the key
establish the angle for the piece. A carefully constructed first paragraph
Using different clauses and phrases
or different writing structures, featuring
different clauses and phrases can
assure your leads have variety
throughout the publication.
allows the rest of the story to fall into place and actually makes it easier
to write. Study the sidebars with the sample lead approaches (“The Write
Approach” and “Variety is the Key”) to guide you to write a first paragraph
that pulls the reader into the rest of the story. Keep in mind that even quick
reads and infographs have more storytelling impact when introduced with a
lead. Effective leads:
Casual Clause: shows cause and effect,
relationship between facts; begins with
because, since or because of. Because
coach Bill Jones teaches history, his workouts
blend warm-up exercise with mini-lectures on
the lives of Olympic champions.
Conditional Clause: expresses
speculative interest or a condition; begins
with if, unless or provided. If the football
•
Find the wow: Look for the attention grabber or important facts.
•
Speak to the reader: Talk to the reader; don’t talk down to the reader.
team had finished its season 10-0, it would
have had a shot at the division title.
•
Keep it short: Make every word count.
•
It won’t come easy: Write, rewrite and then rewrite again.
Concessive Clause: focuses on the fact
that difficulties have been overcome or
unusual circumstances have occurred;
begins with though or although. Although
Write three different leads that could be used for your stories. Use the back
of this sheet. Choose your favorite.
Noun Clause: features substance,
announcement, decision or belief: starts
with that, how, why, whether, what or
when. Whether Buddy’s Burger Barn beat the
The write approach
Feature leads capture readers and make them beg for more. Here’s a quick look at a variety of
lead approaches:
One Word: captures the reader in a single word.
Fire!
Chemistry lab partners Jill Nelson and Todd Anderson
took the “heat” when their test tube exploded.
Contrast: describes two extremes or opposites.
Night and day. Speech Club members worked ‘round
the clock to finish their Homecoming float.
Astonisher: begins with an exclamation that
catches the reader off guard.
Nothing is worse than a bad hair day! Especially when
it’s time to take your yearbook picture.
Punch: features actions or makes a dramatic
statement.
“C’est magnifique!”
When the French Club dined at Chez Paul, members
feasted on baguettes and brie!
Quotation: begins with an unusually revealing
quote.
“If you never try, you never succeed.”
With Mrs. Nelson’s words of encouragement, nervous
students began tryouts for the school play, Our Town.
WRiTING | A c t i v i t y
1,2,3 Yearbook Curriculum, © 2010, Jostens, Inc.
juggling part-time jobs with school work
was difficult, rewards spoke for themselves:
Students learned discipline and earned money
for college.
Question: leads the readers into the story.
Be cautious with this one. It’s the most abused
feature lead, too often leaving readers with a
feeling of “who cares?”
Why do fools fall in love?
Sequential: presents the events in the order in
which they happened.
Painting the town red (and black), basketball fans
create pep signs before the State Championship
send-off rally.
Sights & Sounds: creates a scenario bringing
the event to life.
Steam fogged the windows as the marching band’s
bus sped through the pouring rain carrying them to
the Memorial Day parade.
Summary: summarizes the most important of
the five W’s and H.
While senior cheerleaders watched from the gym
bleachers, sophomore “wanna-bes” tried out for the
squad during the first week of school.
competition with a 3-to-1 margin in a poll of
favorite hangouts mattered little because of
the closed campus policy.
Temporal Clause: focuses on the time
element when it presents itself as the
most important element of the story;
begins with when, while, before, since
or as soon as. With two weeks left until
graduation, seniors dreamed of life without
homework.
Gerund or Participial Phrases: show
action, the manner in which action is
accomplished or unusual circumstances.
Gerund: Running for the school bus
required sturdy legs and track-star agility.
Participial: Running for the school bus,
Jimmy Stanford displayed track-star ability.
Infinite Phrase: features purpose,
dramatic action or creates a minor note
of suspense. To go to the Sadie Hawkins
dance, girls switched roles with guys and
asked for a date.
Prepositional Phrase: focuses on
one aspect of the story that deserves
special attention. With the best intentions,
sophomores and freshmen collected 3,026
pounds of canned goods for the annual
food drive.