What makes a good lede?

Blog 6: What makes a good lede?

According to the book, “to determine a lead – a simple, clear statement consisting of the first paragraph or two, you must first recognize what goes into one.” A lead must contain the basic principles of what makes a story newsworthy. The principles are relevance, usefulness, and interest. The lead must give the readers some sort of explanation to questions such as “so what?” and “who cares?” A good lead will contain six basic questions. These questions are who, what where, when, how, and why. If there is something that makes a particular story standout or makes it more newsworthy then the lead must have that! A good lead will have what is most important first. If there is a fire you want to have when and where and leave the how it started after lead or at the end.

When writing leads you should write a few of them and say it out loud to yourself to see how it sounds. A good lead will also gear towards your readers. You want to hook them in, telling them all in important information and write it in a way to tailor to your audience or readers. If you can do all of this you will have a good lede.