9 Ways to Open with a Bang and Keep Your Readers Reading

Your headline gets them. Your opening keeps them.

You know what really sucks as a writer? It sucks when you’ve nailed the title or headline — but once the reader clicks the story or opens the book, you lose them. Poof. Instantly. Because the opening was weak and boring.

Opening lines are hard!

Stephen King once said he can spend months or even years figuring out the opening line for a new book.

If you’re writing online, it’s even more important. Everyone says headline, headline, headline — but a weak opening can undo the best headlines.

Titles grab attention. The opening has to keep it.

Your first sentence sets the mood.

Quentin Tarantino said when he’s writing a movie, the first thing he does is pick the opening music. Because that music sets the mood for everything that will follow. It sets the tone of the story.

That’s what your first line does as a writer. Sets the tone.

Ever been to a circus? Jingly music , noise everywhere and the MC yells out Ladieeeeeeeees and Gennulmennnnn. It’s a totally different feeling than going to the opera. Or a ball game. Or a horror movie.

Ambiance. That’s what that is. The feel. Writing has ambience, too. If you start boring? Poof. Gone.

Doesn’t matter how good your headline was.

Your headline just gets the click. The way you open is how you keep the reader. Or lose them.

An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this. — Stephen King

The one magic opening line doesn’t exist…

Your opening sentence has one job… to keep people reading. There isn’t one magic way to do that, but there are several techniques that work very well.

Here’s 9 simple ways to write a powerful opening.

1. Ask a question

Did you know the first American movie to show a toilet being flushed was the horror classic, Psycho?

In real life, we often start conversations with a question, right? — Hey, how was your meeting? — Want some coffee? — What have you been up to? — How’s your Mom? Is she doing any better?

This is how we talk to each other. It’s human interaction. Why not start that way when you write? It beats the heck out of boring and posturing. Too many people sound kind of stiff, like they’re fixing to speech at you.

Questions are friendly.

Caveat — don’t start with a question that has a yes or no answer. Because if the reader would answer “no” — you’ll lose them instantly.

2. Use an anecdote

I worked my butt off to get my client on Oprah and he blew it…

If you’ve paid attention to the greatest speakers in the world, you’ll notice that they often start with a little story. It whets the appetite for what’s to come.

Human beings are deeply conversational creatures. Something at our core relates to the honesty and integrity at the root of storytelling.

The mistake a lot of writers make is thinking their “story” is the entire piece.

It’s not. The internet isn’t your diary. The point of the story is the takeaway for the reader. Good writing is when you can leave the writer feeling that they’ve learned something because of your story.

So when you start out with an anecdote, the reader is curious to see what’s going to come next.

Caveat — don’t ramble. Tell the elevator version. Unless you’re writing fiction. Then tell the campfire version.

3. Use a metaphor

His eyes were ice, and I didn’t give a damn.

Metaphors are powerful because of psychology: we react more to the emotional than the rational. Metaphors often evoke emotion.

You capture attention when your reader can see and feel via the right brain and metaphors allow you to do that very effectively.

Bob was a couch potato evokes more feeling than “bob wasn’t very motivated”

Some of the most powerful writing uses metaphor.

“Time has not stood still. It has washed over me, washed me away, as if I’m nothing more than a woman of sand, left by a careless child too near the water.” — The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood

Caveat — a metaphor isn’t a simile. If you have to use “like” or “as” it’s a simile, not a metaphor. Go for metaphor, it’s more evocative than simile.

4. Use a weird statistic

If you earned $1 per second, it would take 2,921 years to earn as much money as Bill Gates has.

People love learning new things, but only if they’re interesting, unique, startling, or even shocking. Which is to say — not boring.

A scientific principle known as the von Restorff effect states that people tend to remember unusual things much more effectively than routine. When you pair up unusual and fact, it’s an emotional jackpot.

According to psychology, strange but factual trivia provides a dopamine rush that makes us feel good.

When we feel good, we engage. When we’re engaged, we keep reading.

Starting with an interesting fact that the reader can’t ignore is a great way to get them to read the next sentence — which is the whole point.

Caveat — The statistic should be relevant to the point of your piece, of course.

5. Use a “pitch” style opener.

10 minutes, that’s all it takes to promote your story to get more views…

Ever walked through a carnival? You hear the pitches all around you. What you might not know is that classic “pitching” has a formula.

[Astonishing Claim] + [Desirable Result]

When you use a pitch style opener, the reader wants to know how you’re going to back that up, so they keep reading.

The pitch style opening pushes curiosity buttons and curiosity is the #1 human motivator.

Curiosity is a form of intrinsic motivation that’s key in fostering spontaneous exploration — which is a fancy way of saying it keeps the reader reading

Caveat — If you’re starting with a pitch style opener, you must be sure you deliver on it, otherwise you’ll earn a “click bait” reputation as someone who starts with bold claims, but doesn’t deliver on them.

6. Use the word “you”

You want to be great, right? And you believe you can. But something’s missing…

When we’re taught to write in school, we’re taught not to use second person. Second person is the word “you” — addressing the reader directly.

Contrast the sample with this: — You want to be great, right? And you believe you can. But… — Most people want to be great. And they believe they can. But…

See the difference?

If you’re writing academic papers, please do avoid using second person.

But if you’re writing online, use the word “you” — as much as possible and certainly more than I/me/my.

Much like asking questions, addressing each other directly is the basis of normal human conversation. It’s how we communicate on a day to day basis. If you start out addressing the reader, that’s much stronger than starting with an abstract concept.

Caveat — If using the word “you” makes your sentence sound accusatory, find a different way to say what you’re trying to say. ie; Don’t say “you don’t know what you’re doing” — say “are you confused by…”

7. Invoke the mind’s eye

Remember when the towers fell, on 911, and we couldn’t stop watching?

Maybe there’s a better name for this one, but if there is, I don’t know it. The mind’s eye is where we can see things in our head as we’re reading.

We don’t always do that. More often for fiction, probably. But the person who can make you see while reading an essay — that’s rare and precious.

If you can produce images in the reader’s mind, that’s one of the most powerful things you can ever do as a writer.

One you do, you’ve created an emotional connection. It’s the same psychology trigger as the metaphor; we react more to emotional than rational.

Some simple ways to activate the mind’s eye of the reader is by using phrases like “imagine,” “picture this,” “do you remember when,” etc.

Caveat — It must be relevant to the rest of your story or it will feel terribly disjointed and even manipulative. Also, it’s helpful if the visualization you’re going for isn’t so esoteric or rare that many readers won’t get it.

8. Say something shocking

I was not sorry when my brother died.

That’s the first sentence in Nervous Conditions. You can’t read a sentence like that and not read the next one.

Like the pitch style opening, the shocker elicits curiosity, paired with surprise.

The effect you want to elicit is for the reader to wonder, “Wait . . . what?”

The key is to say something that will create curiosity, because if you can make the reader curious about what you just said, they’ll keep reading.

Especially if you’re writing online, it’s important to remember that readers don’t read online the same way we read books. We’re not curled up on the sofa and willing to wade through a boring few pages to get to the good stuff.

No, they’re hurrying along, opening multiple tabs and looking for something interesting. Shock and surprise work remarkably well at getting them to stop and pay attention.

But when writing for the web, we need to remember our readers. They’re not curled up on a comfy sofa with a book and a glass of Rioja. They’re hurrying across the web, searching for interesting articles to read and share. Who has the patience to start reading a block of text?

Caveat — If you’re using a shocking opening, be sure it fits the content of your piece or you’ll come across like a shock jock or (worse) click bait.

9. Start with a quote

Hell is empty and all the devils are here. — William Shakespeare

Starting with a quote is a kind-of-lazy but very effective way of grabbing your reader’s attention without having to think too much. Especially if the quote has a strong emotional feel.

Quotes that are controversial or contrarian are particularly effective as openers and make the reader wonder where you’re going from there.

It goes without saying that the quote should fit the piece you’re writing, and not be random and unrelated,

Caveats — opening with a quote only works if the quote itself is interesting. Also, be sure the attribution is correct. You might think attribution doesn’t matter, but if it’s incorrect and the reader knows it, you’ve created a disconnect right at the beginning.

Bonus tip

How you close your story can make the difference between whether the reader feels that was a great read or, honestly, a waste of time. The most powerful endings often double back and tie the ending into the opening.

Before You Go…

If you enjoyed this, you might like my Friday emails on writing & marketing. https://lindac.substack.com/