The lede, or the beginning of a story, is an important writing element. Some writers believe that if you don't capture the reader in the beginning, the reader will not want to continue reading the piece. The lede entices, entertains, and informs the reader. A lede can be a sentence or many sentences.

You can experiment with several ledes. Take the suggestions from other writers below:

1. DIALOGUE
A character in the writing speaks. "Where's papa going with that axe?" said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast. (Charlotte's Web by E.B. White taken from What a Writer Needs by Ralph Fletcher.)

2. INTRODUCING THE NARRATOR
Sometimes the writer designs the lede to introduce the character who will, in turn, tell the story.
Example: I live at 165 East 95 Street, New York City, and I'm going to stay here forever. My mother and father are moving out West. (Taken from What a Writer Needs by Ralph Fletcher.)

3. ASK A QUESTION
Example: I am also a city boy, a city boy who likes his comforts, a city boy who, despite himself, is nervous about being completely alone in the wilderness of Florida. What if the raw oysters I ate for lunch give me hepatitis? Or, more likely, what if I fall off my bike and bust a collarbone? (Taken from Free to Write by Roy Peter Clark.)

4. USE A SERIES OF PARAPHRASES FOR EFFECT
Example: A 42 year old man. A man of heart and soul. (Taken from What a Writer Needs by Ralph Fletcher.)

5. NEWSY
Answers the 5 W's.
Example: "An Air Florida Jetliner taking off from National Airport in a snowstorm crashed into a crowded bridge this afternoon and broke as it plunged into the Potomac River, leaving at least 10 persons dead and more than 40 missing, according to unofficial police estimates." (From Free to Write by Roy Peter Clark.)

6. PERSONIFICATION
A nonhuman functions as a human.
Example: Fall does not march into Florida like a brass band. That happens in New England or North Carolina, where blazing leaves are a tourist attraction. In our state, fall more or less slips through the back door a month after many people have all but given up on its arrival.

Fall comes whistling softly. (From Real Florida by Jeff Klinkenberg.)

7. APPEALS TO SENSES
Example: Tommie Smith put pine saplings under the black kettle to keep the fire going. She dumpled pork fat into the kettle, and as it melted she added water and lye and stirred with a wood spoon. The mixture was neither too thick nor too liquid. She could tell it was going to be a good batch.

The smoke curled into the oaks and pines above and into Tommie's face. She blinked and stepped back. Then the wind shifted and she attacked the kettle again with her spoon. Her large arms showed muscle as she stirred hard. She wanted everything to be just right for the people who had come to north Florida's Stephen Foster State Folk Culture Center here to watch her make her specialty -- lye soap. (Taken from Real Florida by Jeff Klinkenberg.)

8. INTERESTING FACT
Example: The first thing you notice is the cats, cats said to be descended from the pets he kept so long ago. They are on his stone wall and in his banyan trees, on his front porch and on his veranda above, weird six-toed cats everywhere. You walk through his gate, stepping over a cat, as a matter of fact, and hand over your admission at 10:30 on one of those warm Key West mornings for which tourists pay plenty. (Taken from Real Florida by Jeff Klinkenberg.)

9. DESCRIBES SURROUNDINGS
Example: Dark comes early to Withlacoochee State Forest. The sun dips behind the pines and the shadows lengthen and the night creatures reveal themselves. Armadillos crash through the palmettos. Bats flit over the dirt road where wildlife biologists Lenela Glass-Godwin and her husband, Jim, have parked their pickup. The Godwins are creatures of the night, too. They have come to listen to the opera. (Taken from Real Florida by Jeff Klinkenberg.)

10. SURPRISE HUMOR
Example: Nicki Tomarelli was driving through Queens, New York. She had just eaten a big spicy lunch at an Indian restaurant, and suddenly found herself in desperate need of a bathroom. There! A Mobil gas station! She double-parked and raced inside -- both bathrooms were locked. OUT OF ORDER. Nicki looked imploringly at one of the mechanics. (Taken from What a Writer Needs by Ralph Fletcher.)

--This tip was adapted from a handout taken from Poynter's Janie Guilbault Fellowship program to benefit Pinellas County public and private school reading and language arts teachers, as well as elementary and middle school students with an interest or talent in writing.