HOOKS/LEADS

ALLUSION LEAD
An allusion lead refers to a historical event or literary phrase to arouse the reader’s curiosity. Allusion leads should be obvious so that the reader recognizes the reference being made.

Neither sleet, nor snow, nor hail, nor sectional postponement could hold the girls’ soccers team back as it captured third place in the Lake Suburban Conference and ended the season with a 12–4 record.

Do unto others as you would have done unto you. These words ran through Tyler’s mind as he served time in detention for starting a fist fight in the cafeteria line.

COMPARE/CONTRAST LEAD
This type of lead uses comparisons to identify similarities, differences, opposites or extreme relationships.

Winning the state gymnastics all-around competition was a huge accomplishment for petite, 95-pound Tara Rogers.

They may look alike, but twins Marcia and May Wilcox are like salt and pepper! Marcia is a math whiz and Business Club member. May focuses on her artwork and playing in the orchestra.

DESCRIPTIVE LEAD
Based on the sensory details of a scene, a descriptive lead paints a vivid, verbal picture of an event, like a camera does visually. The descriptive lead conveys the emotional state of the scene with strong, detailed language. As a result, this style of lead may be longer than others.

There was little talk, only the sound of cleats on the locker room floor, as the players gathered around the list the freshman baseball coach had taped to his office door. As players spied their names, the silence erupted into whoops of excitement and the slapping sound of athletes exchanging high fives. But some didn’t laugh or shout. They couldn’t. Their names weren’t on the list. They were cut.

As the buzzer signaled the end of the third period, the JV hockey team glided slowly to the bench, their heads hung in dire disappointment of the 3-1 loss.

NARRATIVE LEAD
Similar to a descriptive lead, a narrative lead uses strong action verbs to illustrate an event or moment. This lead offers the author more creative freedom to introduce a particular character, how he moves, acts and speaks.

With a first report card of mostly F’s and one D, 14-year-old Jimmy Kerekes didn’t care about life. Expected to drop out of school as a mere freshman, his life revolved around gangs and drugs.

Alison huddled silently, hearing only a light crunch as she shifted her cold feet in their boots. Her fingers numb in her mittens, her nose red from the crisp air, she desperately awaited the warm, yellow school bus.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE LEAD
A personal experience lead introduces and explores a topic by telling the tale of one specific person. The details of the story are then built around his or her relationship with the topic.

Sarah often heard rude comments from her peers about her weight. She also noticed that every magazine, movie and TV show featured ultra-thin girls. The only answer was to become skinny.

QUESTION LEAD
This lead uses a query to hook the reader. While a question lead is easy to write, it should be used sparingly — only when the question directly targets the heart of the story.

Are you feeling incurably lazy? Constantly fatigued? Plagued by chronic apathy? All of the above? You may have senioritis.

QUOTATION LEAD
Easy to write, this lead uses a memorable quote to draw in the reader.

“I was so nervous about reading my short story aloud at the Coffeehouse, but when I got a standing ovation and my mom started to cry, it was worth all of the anxiety,” senior Wanda Reeder said.

SHOCKING STATEMENT LEAD
Writers use this lead to WOW the reader with unusual or shocking facts.

The high school cafeteria serves 6,000 pounds of french fries, 8,000 hamburgers and 15,000 pizzas every month.

STACCATO LEAD
A dramatic style, the staccato lead is composed of a series of sentences or phrases that create a verbal rhythm.

Call it a sickness. A season. A phase. Call it a pleasure. A distraction. Call it spring fever!

SUMMARY LEAD
This lead briefly highlights the main points of the story in the first paragraph, then elaborates on the details throughout the story. This lead answers the who, what, where, when, why and how of journalism.

On October 24, 2005, southern Florida and the Florida Keys endured the wrath of Hurricane Wilma, the eighth hurricane to hit the state in 14 months.

SUSPENDED INTEREST LEAD
A suspended interest lead piques the reader’s interest by holding back the main point of the story for a few sentences.

Dhalism. Ryu. Feilong. Sagat. Balrog. To some people this may seem like a foreign language, but to video game buffs, this is common English.