Kate finds good advice on story starts

Back on November 2nd, John's blog post mentioned Zinsser's book and what Zinsser said about the beginning of a piece of writing:

"The most important sentence in any article is the first one. If it doesn't induce the reader to proceed to the second sentence, your article is dead."

I want to add to that something I found in "The Journalist's Craft: A Guide to Writing Better Stories" edited by Dennis Jackson and John Sweeney.

The newly aspiring writer is admonished against using false openings in the hope of snagging a reader: "Splicing a snazzy lead onto an otherwise conventional article strikes me as false advertising. The lead should establish the tone and voice of the story. Best not to begin your story with a cheap trick."

I am guilty of the afore-mentioned trick and then I struggle for continuity of tone for the remainder of the piece. I also struggle with finding a place to use scene-driven narrative as mentioned by Daniel James Brown. By the time I get the necessary facts in my article, my writing sounds more like a news article than a lyrical prose piece moving along scene by carefully chosen scene.

Is anyone else running up against this issue?

I guess it fits that a book by writers on how to become better writers would be well-written and enjoyable reading. After reading the section on writing narrative non-fiction, I was drawn into the section called, "These Things we Can Count On" with its list of "linguistic misdemeanors" committed by lazy writers.

That was so enjoyable to read that I moved into the chapter on finding good stories. By the time I was finished I had even read the pages entitled, "Business Writing that Screams "Read Me!"

No small feat for someone who summarily pulls the business sections out of the paper along with the flyers for hearing aids, truck sales and Rite-Aid coupons.

I have also picked up the "Lonely Planet's Guide to Travel Writing." which is also a good read. The problem with all these engrossing writing guides is putting aside the teaching manuals and opening up the keyboard to practice what they preach.

Kate Boris-Brown