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The Elements of Style
A “lead” is the beginning (and, William Zinsser argues, the most important part) of a nonfiction article. An effective lead can be of any length, as long as it attracts the reader’s attention.
Lead Quotes in On Writing Well
The On Writing Well quotes below are all either spoken by Lead or refer to Lead. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 9 Quotes
Therefore your lead must capture the reader immediately and force him to keep reading. It must cajole him with freshness, or novelty, or paradox, or humor, or surprise, or with an unusual idea, or an interesting fact, or a question. Anything will do, as long as it nudges his curiosity and tugs at his sleeve.
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In Zinsser’s view, the most important part of a nonfiction article is the beginning, or the lead. There’s no single best way to lead, neither for a specific writer nor for a specific topic. Instead, each lead is unique: it always has to fit the writer and their material. Here, Zinsser explains that a lead has to do two main things to be successful: “capture the reader immediately” and “force [them] to keep reading.” He gives several examples of how the writer can elicit a specific emotional response in the reader to achieve these goals. But these two goals are Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possim
Chapter 23 Quotes
What struck me most powerfully when I got to Timbuktu was that the streets were of sand. I suddenly realized that sand is very different from dirt. Every town starts with dirt streets that eventually get paved as the inhabitants prosper and subdue their environment. But sand represents defeat. A city with streets of sand is a city at the edge.
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In the chapter “A Writer’s Decisions,” Zinsser focuses on all the small-scale organizational problems that writers face. While these problems always depend on writers’ style, material, and angle, Zinsser models some general approaches to them by walking the reader through one of his own articles, “The News From Timbuktu.” This short paragraph is Zinsser’s lead. He uses Timbuktu’s sand streets as a metaphor for its place on “the edge” of human civilization and the Western imagination. With this lead, he hopes to accomplish a few main things: he wants to grab the reader’s attention, convince them to keep reading, and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Volupta
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Lead Term Timeline in On Writing Well
The timeline below shows where the term Lead appears in On Writing Well. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 9: The Lead and the Ending
The most important part of an article is the lead, or the very beginning, which has to catch the reader’s attention. The lead can be...
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Zinsser compares a few different effective leads. He starts with one of his own, from an article about the poultry industry’s campaign...
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Zinsser notes that his best leads often come from random facts, so he advises writers to over-research, as long as it...
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Zinsser looks at two more leads. In her article about Howard Hughes’s defunct L.A. office, Joan Didion uses details about Hollywood’s...
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...comment about Coolidge’s utterly boring presidency. Often, writers can end with a reference to the lead or a funny quote. For instance, Zinsser closed an article about Woody Allen with Allen’s...
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Chapter 23: A Writer’s Decisions
An article’s lead has to grab and hold the reader’s attention while giving context about the story. Zinsser...
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...upwards of an hour, but the time investment was worth it. Zinsser ends his six-paragraph lead with an asterisk, which shows the reader that he’s starting a new section.
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