How to Writing: Introduce Educational Resources K12 Learning, Writing, English / Language Arts Lesson Plans, Activities, Experiments, Homeschool Help

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Audio:

"Henry, I'd like you to meet Casey Jones. He's an engineer who lives in Erie, Pennsylvania."

"Hello! My name is Selma Junkoff, and I work for an online auction house. I have a great offer for you!"

Those are introductions. Most often when you meet someone, your conversation involves an introduction. Writing requires an introduction as well. Your reader deserves to be introduced to the topic about which you are writing, in a way that will pique his or her interest.

Are you ready to learn how to write a strong introduction?

Let's get started!

Good authors introduce the topic of their writing to their readers.

The introduction should grab the attention of the reader and make the reader want to continue to read. Sometimes, authors ask their readers a question to catch their interest. For example,

"Did you know that 14 steps are required every time you tie your shoes? In this paper, I will clearly teach you how to tie your shoes in 14 easy steps."

Another way to introduce your writing to your reader is to begin with a fact. For example,

"There are 14 steps required every time you tie your shoes. In this paper, I will clearly teach you how to tie your shoes in 14 easy steps."

A third way to introduce your writing to your reader is to begin with humor. If you make your reader laugh, he or she will likely want to read on. For example,

"If you try to tie your shoes using ten steps — they will fall off. In this paper, I will clearly teach you how to tie your shoes in 14 easy steps."

Download and print Types of Hooks from Downloadable Resources in the right-hand sidebar. This is a resource to help you remember the different ways to hook your reader.

Once you have hooked your reader, it is important to follow-up with a sentence explaining what your reader will read about in your paper. The sentence from the examples above that illustrates this point is:

"In this paper, I will clearly teach you how to tie your shoes in 14 easy steps."

Finally, good writers include a purpose in their introduction. It is imperative to explain to your readers why what you are going to teach them is important. In the example above about learning how to tie your shoes, a good author may explain the purpose by stating:

"It is important to learn how to tie your shoes — and tie them well — because if you don't know how to tie your shoes, you might trip on untied laces or you might not be able to wear shoes that need to be tied. That means you may not be able to play sports — such as baseball, hockey, football, and bowling — that require shoes that need to be tied."