Class 1/23: Types of Ledes, Nutgraf Basics

In class today we walked through a series of types of lede paragraphs, from basic News Ledes to more literary and stylistic choices.

Here are the ledes we discussed in class:

• Summary lede (AKA Straight News Lede, 5W’s Lede)
• Punch lede – It uses strong verbs and short sentences that are meant to create an impact.
• Anecdotal lede – This one begins, as is obvious, with an anecdote.
• Descriptive lede – As the name suggests, this type of lede goes into great detail to describe the scene or person that makes up the subject of the story.
• Quotation lede : Ledeing with a colorful quote can get right to the heart of your story.
• Question lede: It’s tricky to do well, but a provocative or pointed  question can attract curiousity
• Personal lede It involves the use of the first person singular in the lede.
• 'You' lede (or Direct Address lede) The `You' lede is intended to make a personal appeal to the reader involved in a complicated situation.
• Contrast lede: Lede shows a stark comparison between two points, figures, or ideas.
• Delayed lede (or suspended interest lede)  - very tricky to pull off, but it’s possible to delay the lede until almost the very end of the story. This obituary for a man that died in the WTC attack on 9/11 is one example.
• Blind identification lede If the person concerned is not well known in the community, his/her name is less important than other salient facts that identify the person. eg. "a 80-year-old woman" instead of her name.
• Gag (or funny) lede start with a joke
• Allusion lede  - paraphrases a well known line from literature or pop culture

Here are some resources for writing ledes:

https://blogvault.net/lead-in-style-different-types-of-leads/

A good lead is everything — here’s how to write one

http://titan.iwu.edu/~jplath/leads.html

Writing basics: how to write a lead

How to Write a Lead Paragraph that Wins Readers’ Attention

And here is a guide to writing nut grafs

Nailing the Nut Graf