Following up on the previous post, Writing the Story of Your Ancestor“, every article needs a beginning and an ending – or a more interesting way to describe it – a hook and closer.
You don’t need to enter a contest to tell the story of one or more of your ancestors. If their stories are not told, the struggles and joys of their lives will never be known by their descendants.
Having said that, Qualicum Beach Family History Society members are invited to enter a “Tell Us a Story” contest. $100.00 will be awarded to the entrant whose entry, in the opinion of the judging panel, best meets the contest criteria. Note: This contest is open to members only.
We cannot begin to tell a story about ourselves or our ancestors if we don’t know the ending. In genealogy, quite often the ending is the beginning of a story. Once you have your ending, you are ready to go back to the beginning and write the article. This is where the hook comes in, beginning your article with a clue to the ending.
The Hook
Your opening lines are your first chance to hook your reader. A good opening line hooks your attention. Its job is to make you read this second sentence, which has the singular task of propelling your eyes towards the third sentence and right through to the end of the article.
As a general rule, your first line is the next most important bit of writing after your headline or title. Your second line is the next most important bit of writing after your first line. And so on. Each sentence or paragraph continues on with the theme of your article which began with the opening line.
There are several strategies for an opening line to spur the reader on to continue reading. There are a variety of strategies that could be used, but four simple ones are:
Opening Line Strategy #1
A first line can simply set up the line that follows it. Or the one after that. You can use it to create expectation or intrigue, which following lines can elaborate on or contrast.
Opening Line Strategy #2
Asking a question of your reader is another way to keep them squarely focused on your content. This strategy deploys an element of ‘curiosity’ to encourage you to read further. Curiosity is a potent weapon as, in an ideal world, this approach should leave the reader wanting to know more. Or it should create a question that can only be answered by reading on.
Opening Line Strategy #3
Set a scene. People respond well to visual cues. Taking the time to set a detailed scene will help your reader have a clear picture in their minds and create an effective hook. You can describe an incident or detail the particular features of a person or a character to help the readers become immersed in your writing.
Opening Line Strategy #4
Include an Interesting Fact or Definition. These types of hooks start by surprising the reader with something that may not have known. Provide an interesting fact about something you are going to discuss in the body of the article and your audience will want to keep reading to learn more.
The Closer
End your article with a closer, a final sentence that may reinforce an overall argument or leave the reader with an intriguing thought, question or quotation. The idea is to “clinch” or seize the reader’s attention until the very end, finishing a piece of writing in a way that feels complete. It should not be merely a summary or introduce topics or ideas not covered in the article.
Ending your essay or article with a reference to your lead “gives a feeling of arrival,” says Palms. You might want to pick up a word, a phrase, or part of an anecdote from the lead and bring it into the conclusion.
A good ending ties together all the discoveries in the article and, ideally, either leaves the reader wanting to learn more about the person or subject in the article or feels the article has reached a satisfactory conclusion.
Are you ready to tackle writing a story about one of your ancestors? I hope so and good luck.
The next article will provide more tips on writing the “perfect” article.