5 Easy Ways to Start Your Magazine Article

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Allena Tapia wrote about freelance writing The Balance Careers and The Balance SMB. She is a freelance marketing and communications consultant.
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Allena Tapia
Updated November 20, 2019

Sometimes the simple act of getting started is the hard part. If you find the "perfect" lede, perhaps the information will flow from there! It's worth a try! Here are 5 ways to start your magazine article.

An Inspiring Quote

Woman writing article using laptop
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Since many of my articles are profiles, the inspiring quote is one of my favorites. You may be fortunate enough to interview a subject who can distill a feeling, position or process into one amazing quote. If so, lead with it!

A Shocker!

Sometimes this overlaps with statistics (see below), but one way to hook your reader is to insert a lead sentence that has a lot of pop, such as describing a harrowing journey or a gross injustice.

A Statistic

This may be a little overdone, but sometimes you must establish the "why" of an article in terms of numbers. Why is this article important? Because the subject is relevant to xxxx number of people? Because xx million people have this disease? You get the point. One of the best spots to find those pesky statistics is the Bureau of Labor Statistics or the Census data.

Dictionary Definition

Ok, in my personal opinion, this one can be a little boring, but sometimes a formal definition is necessary to establish a piece. An interesting twist on this might be to translate the word into a foreign language and look for its cognates.

Set a Scene

I once interviewed a college president who'se office was filled with old automobile memorabilia. Getting to the root of his personality through his passion for cars was fun and made for a great article.