Text 3. Types of Leads

There are two main types of leads: direct and delayed. The direct lead reveals immediately what the story is about. It is the summary or statement of the most important events contained in the story. It is the climax, the result of the investigation, the theme. If you told a joke as you wrote a direct lead, you would place the punch line first.

The direct lead – also called the summary lead – is usually one sentence, but sometimes two. It answers immediately, in 25 words or less, the main questions of who, what, when and where. It is the workhorse of daily journalism, used at the top of most stories.

The best direct leads start with a compelling noun and a strong verb, not with a prepositional phrase. William Caldwell, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, recalled the best lead he ever heard. The year was 1922. "I was on my way home from school and my stint at the local weekly. My little brother came running to meet me at the foot of the street. He was white and crying. A telegram had come to my mother. 'Pa drowned this morning in Lake George,' my brother gasped. I was ashamed to admit my inner response. Before I could begin to sense sorrow, despair, horror, loneliness and anger, before all the desolation of an abandoned child could well up in me, I found myself observing that the sentence my brother had just uttered was the perfect lead. Noun, verb, period, and who-what-when-where to boot."

There is a second type of lead that is used mostly on feature stories. It is the delayed or feature lead. It usually sets a scene or evokes a mood with an incident, anecdote or example. The writer may foreshadow events to come or create a sense of foreboding or anticipated surprise. Essential information is temporarily withheld. The writer teases before she pleases.

The delayed lead can be short, perhaps two sentences, or it can be longer, up to four paragraphs. The delayed lead still must fulfill the two roles of the lead: it must capture the essence of the story and do it in a way that encourages the reader to continue. Like the direct lead, it leads the reader straight to the heart of the story.

When the lead is delayed and does not immediately explain the main point of the story, it is important to include the theme statement somewhere high in the story, usually within the first four paragraphs. If you ask the reader to wait before he learns what the story is about, be sure to reward him with a clear statement of purpose, also known as a nut graph.

Leads must be honest. They should never promise what does not follow in the story. Don't begin with a startling or sensational anecdote if it is not organically related to the theme. As writer John McPhee said, "A lead should not be cheap, flashy, meretricious, blaring a great fanfare of trumpets, and then a mouse comes out of its hole."

Now you will know some useful things about writing good leads as it is suggested in the book by John R. Bender and others Reporting for the Media [4]. At first, you are given examples which show bad leads and then examples of better (improved) leads for stories. You are also given some commentary how to write leads.

The following example (slightly exaggerated) is a traditional lead that attempts to answer all six questions.

Andrew A. Kernan, 18, a student at Central High School and the son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Kernan of 1432 Hillmore Lane, died at about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday when his car over­turned near a sharp curve on State Road 12.

REVISED: An 18-year-old student was killed Tuesday when his car overturned while he was driving home from high school.

Each of the following leads emphasizes the answer to only one of the six basic ques­tions – the question that seems to be most important for that particular story:

WHO: Three teen-agers, including a 14-year-old who is eight months pregnant, today were sentenced to 20 years in prison for robbing and murdering a cab driver.

HOW: A 15-year-old boy in the county jail ripped part of a sheet from his bedding and used it to hang himself from a coat hook in his cell.

WHERE: Turbulent air 35,000 feet above the state jolted an Eastern Airlines jet last night injuring 23 passengers and 3 flight attendants.

WHY: Desperate over the breakup of his marriage and financial problems, Teddy Bruce Flichum killed his 2-year-old son, then committed suicide in a motel room Wednesday.

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