How to write a catchy introduction?

Creative writing can be in many forms. It can be short story, play, letter, message, notice or even a diary entry. Each writing skill demands a different format of writing. However, some aspects of any writing skill remain the same. One of these aspects is writing a catchy introduction. The purpose of the first paragraph is to strike an instant rapport with your reader.

Here are some points to remember while writing an introduction:

1. ‘What’, ‘who’ & ‘how’ of writing

Read the question and the kind of creative writing task given to you carefully. Understand the topic fully and make a plan of approaching the theme in your own words. Use some time to plan out the structure of your text. Keep in mind the kind of creative writing and follow the instructions in the question. Keep the reader in mind, for example, in a message, it could be your mother, aunt uncle etc. In a notice, it could be your fellow classmates. In each, your reader is different, therefore your language and way of addressing them will vary. Use the time to make mind maps for the points to be covered, especially in long texts. If you have time, write a rough draft before you finalise the content.

2. Catching the attention of reader

Write a catchy sentence, or a hook statement in the beginning, so as to get the reader's attention. There are many ways to do so. You could start by creating a mystery, use humour/wit, a quote of a famous person, a hypothetical situation, a rhetorical question, or even a witty/ humorous statement to grasp the attention. This would depend on the nature of the essay also. Not all beginnings will be fit for each topic, therefore, you'd have to match the introduction to the kind of the creative task. For a short story perhaps, a mysterious opening sentence or even a humorous one will set the tone. For a descriptive or argumentative essay, a hypothetical (imaginary) situation, some hard facts and data, or a question would also work well. For a diary entry, you could be imaginative and use a few lines from poetry as well.

3. Connection with content

Remember that there is a connection between your opening lines and what follows thereafter. Don’t force a catchy line without keeping in mind the nature of the question. For example, for an argumentative essay on the topic, ‘Ask not what your country can give you…’, you could start with a rhetorical question like ‘Who amidst us doesn't love his country?’ For a short story ‘The house on the blue mountain’, you could start by building a mysterious atmosphere around the house. ‘As the thick clouds descended, so did the dead of the night, upon that lone house atop the mountain…’ For a paragraph-writing on ‘Whether there should be uniform in school or not’, you could also begin with a first person account/ short anecdote.

4. Modify accordingly

A lot depends on the nature of the topic, your background research and adaptation of the introduction according to the nature of the creative writing. You may choose to skip one part of the introduction sometimes, too. But, the fact remains,’Well begun, is half done’.

Good luck!