Writing Good Leads for Narratives

Strong Leads  Good writers work on their leads.  They try several versions.  They redraft and revise!  Because a bad (or dull) lead influences the reader.

Why is it important? A good lead… … sets the tone of the piece. … tells the reader something about what they will be reading. … establishes voice and verb tense.  I or they  is or was … grounds the writer. …. makes it easier to write

What doesn’t work:  Your writing starts when the story starts. (I am going to tell you about…” or “One day…) … BORING!  A timeline (…and then… and then… and then…) … BORING!  A list of things the reader should know. … BORING!

Typical It was a day at the end of June. My mom, dad, brother and I were at our camp on Rangeley Lake. We arrived the night before at 10:00, so it was dark when we got there and unpacked. We went straight to bed. The next morning, when I was eating breakfast, my dad started yelling for me from down at the dock at the top of his lungs. He said there was a car in the lake.

Three Ways to Start a Narrative 1.Action - Jump right into the action of the story and then flash back to the exposition. 2.Reaction- React to an event or another character’s action. 3.Dialogue- Dive into a conversation.

Action (A main character doing something) I gulped my milk, pushed away from the table, and bolted out of the kitchen slamming the broken screen door behind me. I ran down to our dock as fast as my legs could carry me. My feet pounded on the old wood, hurrying me toward my dad’s voice. “Scott!” he bellowed again. “Coming, Dad!” I gasped. I couldn’t see him yet – just the sails of boats that had already put out into the lake for the day. Vivacious Verbs!

Reaction ( A character thinking) I couldn’t imagine why my father was hollering for me at 7:00 in the morning. I thought fast about what I might have done to get him so riled. Had he found out about the way I had talked to my mother the night before, when we got to camp and she asked me to help unpack the car? Did he discover the fishing reel I broke last week? Before I could consider a third possibility, Dad’s voice shattered my thoughts. “Scott! Move it! You’re not going to believe this!”

Dialogue (Characters Speaking) “Scott! Get down here on the double!” Dad bellowed. His voice sounded far away. “Dad?” I hollered. “Where are you?” I squinted through the screen door but I couldn’t see him. “I’m down on the dock. MOVE IT. You’re not going to believe this,” he replied.

Which was the best? - Action - Reaction - Dialogue Why do you like it?

Four More Ways to Start a Narrative 1.Setting – even establishing character’s state of mind will work 2.Character 3.Quotation 4.Description

Setting (State of Mind of the Character) Whenever my mother talks to me, she begins the conversation as if we were already in the middle of an argument.

Character (A Physical Glimpse) With my auburn curls bouncing and my skinny legs racing, my heart pounded as loudly as a drum. I couldn’t wait to plummet into the sun-warmed water of Eagle Mountain Lake.

Quotation “All that glitters is not gold.” I had put my favorite band up on a pedestal. Once I got a glimpse of backstage events, I took them off that pedestal; I realized what Shakespeare had said was unfortunately true.

Description (Imagery – Appeal to the Senses) The trees and bushes, looking like they had been smudged with giant emerald crayons, formed an aisle along the warm, loamy path to Duck’s Nest.

Assignment  Underline the first sentence of your personal narrative.  On the page adjacent to your rough draft, write out your original lead (the sentence you just underlined). Title this journal page: “P.N. Leads”  Now, write two (or three) different versions of your lead using the techniques we just learned about.