A good introduction is a sort of hook grabbing readers’ attention. Indeed, these first lines determine whether people will keep reading your text or skip it. In this post, we share recommendations on how to begin it and surely spark interest.
How to start your story: tips from the custom writing help agency
Whether you write essays, blog posts, or any other content, these tips come in handy. It is because they are based on the real experience and professional knowledge of writers from Writing-help.org company. This online agency provides all types of custom writing services, including even dissertation help https://writing-help.org/dissertation.
For years of successful business in this sphere, they have written thousands of awesome introductions. Hence, now they are skilled enough to give good advice.
The beginning of the text sets its tone and creates the atmosphere for further reading. Since the introduction is an integral part of the online articles and college essays, it deserves maximum attention. Here is what the expert team from Writing-help.org service recommends.
1. Share interesting statistics
Figures always look solid and compelling. The only thing is to use reliable data from safe sources. For instance, if you compose an article on online shopping you can write: “Almost 2 billion people order goods and services online in 2024…” It is about one-quarter of the whole population. This fact demonstrates the global scale of digital trade, and it sounds interesting. Just imagine that every fourth person on the globe uses the Internet to buy something.
2. Ask a thought-provoking question
Having asked a good question, you can easily win the reader’s attention. He/she will expect to find the answer in the text. Rhetorical questions are good to start a blog post: “How much would you pay to see your future?,” “Can humanitarian assistance reduce poverty?…”
3. Cite famous quotes
A lot of great people say wise words, and webmasters gather these phrases on their sites. Today you can easily find popular quotes on the Internet. Scientists, poets, IT-specialists, politicians speculate on various topics, and their thoughts can be extremely valuable for your story. You can prove or refute these expressions in your article.
4. Begin with the relevant news
Fresh facts always interest people. Search for the latest events and tendencies in your subject matter area. Google is probably the fastest way to get this information. You can choose the period in the Google search bar: the last hour, the last day, the last month, etc., and thus filter only the newest data. Or simply use the “news” tag.
For instance: “California Department of Public Health has issued new stay-at-home orders for November and December 2024…” This beginning of the article might interest most Americans.
5. Come up with an intriguing introduction
Intrigue is what makes your reader stay with your story till the end. Start using it in the introduction and you will definitely catch readers’ attention.
For this purpose, you can start describing the plot, yet let it be spoiler-free. To trigger readers’ emotions and feelings, mention the broken heart, private tragedy, financial ruin, missed opportunities, etc. It is all up to the topic of your text. Unexpected facts surprise a lot and work well for this situation too.
6. Tell the joke
If your assignment does not imply strict requirements for your text, add some humor. It could be an anecdote or a funny case. By doing so, you bring positive emotions and demonstrate your wit.
7. Start with your personal story
One of the best ways to get closer to the reader is to tell a real case from your life. In this case, you show your sincerity and win trust from your audience. Describe your experience and feelings about the core issue of the paper.
8. Give examples from the life of other people
If you have never faced issues described in your text, find real stories that happened to others. People tend to like reading how someone copes with issues and achieves accomplishments.
For instance, tell that Steven King got rejected about 30 times when he tried to publish his “Carrie.” Before fame, he lived in poor conditions and had to buy cheap food and clothes. Yet these failures didn’t discourage him to keep trying.
9. Give a brief description of the further text
This conventional way has a right to exist due to its simplicity and effectiveness. It is mainly used for college papers. Your purpose is to highlight briefly the main points of your text. It is also a good idea to explain your choice of topic, prove the value of the essay, define how you are going to solve the main issue (e.g. tell about the methods used in your research paper).
When composing an introduction consider the aim and the style of your text. Obviously, English humor is not acceptable for serious academic papers, and a monotonous summary, in turn, might sound too dull for the beginning of the blog post.
Practical advice on how to write a good introduction
No matter what type of strategy you choose for the introduction, it must meet the following requirements.
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Conciseness
Apparently, the introduction cannot be longer than the main part. Make it proportional to other paragraphs of your essay.
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Meaningfulness
There is no place for empty words in the introduction. Weigh every phrase to come up with a worthwhile beginning of your text.
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Goal orientation
Depending on the purpose of your project, the introduction can be informative, entertaining, motivational, inspiring, thought-provoking, etc. Bear this fact in mind when writing the first part of your paper.
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Relevance to the whole text
It seems obvious that the introduction must be written within the topic of the essay. As a rule, teachers emphasize this fact when they give such assignments. However, some students mention irrelevant statistics, use inappropriate jokes, or add wrong facts at the beginning of the text. All this spoils the impression from the whole text.
Helpful hint from the professional Writing-help.org writer: “First, compose the text of your essay and only after that write down the introduction. Thus, you can easily determine and highlight the core issues of your story.”
Experts in Psychology claim that people remember, above all, the beginning and the end of any text. So let your introduction be always eye-catching and effective. We hope our post will help you with that.