The importance of getting young writers off to a good start

Getting young (or any age, really) writers to start strong in their journalism or essays is one of the toughest tasks for any instructor, but one way to help them find successful strategies is to share good examples from the professionals.

Here is a lead (or lede) from a Washington Post news story today: 

SEARCHLIGHT, Nevada — From the highway, Spirit Mountain — a 5,642 foot-high peak — appears gray. But at times, it glows a majestic pink. For the Fort Mojave and 11 other tribes, these mystical rocks are the site from which their ancestors emerged.

“There’s a spiritual connection that makes us Mojave people,” said Tim Williams, chair of the tribal council. “If it’s not protected, our generation will not have done our job.”

Two decades ago, Congress preserved the mountain — called Avi Kwa Ame (ah-VEE-kwah-may) in Mojave — and 33,000 acres around it as wilderness. Now the Biden administration is readying a proclamation that could put roughly 450,000 acres — spanning almost the entire triangle at the bottom of the Nevada map — off limits to development under the 1906 Antiquities Act.

President Biden will commit on Wednesday at the White House Tribal Nations Summit to protecting the area, according to a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the decision was not yet public.

A young writer might point out that the actual "news" here is not revealed until the fourth graf, but the instructor's job is to help writers analyze how such a choice can work well.

The first graf is descriptive, but also gets at the "why" of the story (the importance of the area to a large number of tribes). The second graf is a direct quote from an informed source that supports that opening graf's thesis.

Then comes graf 3, which provides needed context for readers while hinting at the next graf's specific announcement.

Finally, readers get the news: the official announcement will come later today.

No matter the structure journalists choose for any particular story, they have to include as many of the answers to the classic 5 Ws and H questions as they can. Sometimes deadlines preclude getting solid answers to one or more of those questions, of course, but the "who, what, where, when, why and how" questions always must be addressed at some point.

The answers to those questions can be complex. For instance, in this case there are really two WHO answers -- President Biden plus the tribal council. We have already touched on the WHY, and the WHERE and WHEN and WHERE are all there. The HOW is not crystal clear, but readers likely assume that the protection will come through some administrative action, since the Congress is not mentioned.

Early in a semester, it would be wise to set aside time most class days to do this sort of analysis of the structure of leads. 

That focus will pay off for the rest of the term. 

Bonus: I rarely see mediocre or poor stories that begin with a strong lead. Leads are the engine that drives the writing.