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‘Loser Leads’ That Turn Off Editors
5 types of flat, dull, or trite first lines for articles
Nobody dumps Gatorade on the writing coaches at newspapers who have tried to help reporters turn out sparkling copy amid the apocalypse for the print media. But Jack Hart, a writing teacher and former managing editor at the Oregonian, seems to have deserved that treatment.
Hart drew on decades of working with reporters for his exemplary A Writer’s Coach: The Complete Guide to Writing Strategies That Work, a book that seeks to demystify a dozen aspects of good writing — clarity, brevity, voice, color, structure, rhythm and more. And some of his advice would have no less value for bloggers, novelists, and corporate memo-writers.
Take Hart’s section on “loser leads,” soporific first sentences that risk turning an entire story into a cliché and that beg for an eraser or a delete key. Dick Thien, a founding editor of USA Today, compiled list of offenders, or emaciated beginnings that won’t help a post or short story or any more than a newspaper article.
Hart quotes some of them:
“The ‘good news, bad news’ lead:
“The good news is that online classes have begun. The bad news is that most students don’t have computers.
