Writing the Most Powerful Intro

What is it there so tricky about introductions? What stops you from writing a good one? Find out the secrets of writing a great intro and master your skills with this guide.

How to Write an Introduction

No academic paper can do without an introductory part that serves as an opening to a story, aimed at attracting the reader’s interest and holding it until you lead them to your main idea. Well begun is half done, they say. Indeed, the better your introduction is, the more likely you are to write a paper that will bring you a high grade. And the reason is not only in the fact that professors like well-written introductions.

Even if you don’t have much of a natural writing talent, you can still feel and differentiate when you’re writing well and when you’re close to a failure. Professional writers know that choosing the right words gives a feeling that can be truly inspiring. So, you will know that you’re on the right way when you manage to write a great introduction, and this will encourage you to work more productively on the other parts of an essay, resulting in a meaningful paper. 

There’s a tricky thing about introduction writing, though: you need to make it interesting and clear but keep it short. Sometimes it’s a real challenge to express an idea in just a few sentences. Doubts as for the correct length of an introductory part only make everything worse. So, how long should an introduction be and how to fit in that length?

Tips on Writing a Short but Powerful Intro

Pick the most appropriate attention grabber

Since your paper’s intro serves as a tool to draw the reader’s attention and make them interested, you shouldn’t neglect to use attention-grabbing tricks. For example, ask an unexpected question that will stir the reader up, making them want to find out the answer. Later, in your paper, give them this answer. Another way to hook the reader is to provide a statistical fact that relates to your topic; make sure it’s something interesting or something that the reader didn’t know before. A few more attention grabbers are:

• a wordplay; 
• a funny fact; 
• or a bright simile. 

These and other figures of speech in your first sentence will surely catch the eye of the reader and ensure a great beginning for your brilliant work. 

Follow the pattern “from broad to narrow”

Although it’s a rather trivial pattern, it doesn’t mean it’s not effective. Introductions that start with a sentence introducing a general idea, which is followed by a few sentences narrowing the idea and leading the reader to the main point, are exactly what your professor is expecting from you. While starting with a funny fact, citation, dialog, anecdote, or another attention grabber does work too, these are not always appropriate means of opening your paper, especially if it’s a scientific research or any other paper that requires a more sophisticated tone. That’s when the “broad to narrow” introduction will do. 

Make sure the information is relevant to your paper’s topic

Whatever type of a paper you are working on, you surely understand how important it is to provide the reader with reliable information. What else you should understand is that it’s important for every part of the paper to be relevant to the main idea. If your paper appears to be inconsistent, you will hardly get a high grade for it. 

Therefore, you should ensure that each sentence of the introduction and other sections of the paper follows the next one in a logical sequence and that they all represent information that is relevant to the subject. No matter how much you want to be original, don’t start with a funny citation or a brisk joke only because you like them. They are useless if they have no connection to your essay’s topic.

Don’t rush

You don’t have to write your introduction first. In fact, it’s even better if you get down to it only after you have written the body or at least have compiled the key ideas into an outline. Considering the previous point about relevance, it may be difficult for you to understand what exactly is relevant to your paper and what is not until you have done at least a little part of writing the rest. So, research the topic, build your arguments, and get a clearer idea of what your final work will look like. And come back to the introduction only after that. 

Link it to your thesis

A thesis statement is what your introduction should end with. To be more precise, this is its natural conclusion. This is why you need to watch out for logical connections and links between the sentences of your introductory paragraph, making sure they all lead the reader to the thesis. However, being the key element of this paragraph, your thesis doesn’t need to be located at the end. If you feel like starting your intro with a thesis, make it your first sentence and continue with supporting sentences. In fact, this little trick can turn your introduction into a powerful piece of writing. 

Writing assignments have always been considered the most challenging ones for students of all ages. These tips were designed to help you out with a particular task of writing an introduction. However, if you still feel like you can’t cope with it, you can ask for homework help at 10pagepapers.com or any other reliable writing service. This will save you time and effort as well as ensure that your professor will grade you highly. 

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