How To Create Nail Biting Openings — Two Simple Techniques
Yes, Even For Boring Business Content
Let’s pretend your boss gives you an assignment. He instructs you to read an article and report on it tomorrow. Imagine that articles opens with a line resembling this:
According to [insert name] report, fin tech firms will face pricing pressure from …
Most business content suffers from lackluster openings like this. The same goes for content from professional niches.
What if the source content is boring? What’s a writer to do?
Let’s look at two simple techniques to create compelling openings. Both techniques create curiosity. Maintain that curiosity and you create anticipation. Anticipation is an urge. It’s the urge to know what comes next. It’s an open question that demands closure.
Burn Your Templates
First, jettison the boilerplate opening. You must open with a story. Take a story from your personal life or a business experience. It doesn’t matter as long as it’s real, or at least realistic.
I will be using story snippets from my own journal to create examples.
Here is the first technique.
In The Action
I slammed on the breaks. The car came to a complete stop inches from disaster. Not more than a few seconds later, two more ran into the street. Good thing I looked over before I resumed.
They always seem to travel in packs. If one crosses the street in front of you, it’s a good bet a few more will follow.
It reminds me of a horrifying car accident as a young teenager.
It was dark, pitch black. Fog hampered visibility.
BANG! I jerked forward on contact. The seat belt saved me.
We pulled over to the side. To my horror, I saw an injured baby deer. There was no way to avoid it. Deer run across these roads all the time.
Lucky for us humans, we look both ways before crossing. It’s a skill we…
What’s the secret to this opening?
Start in the middle of the action.
I slammed on the breaks. The car came to a complete stop inches from an impending disaster.
There’s no warm up or intro. I start in the middle of the action. After the story, I transition into the lesson or deeper meaning.
What if your story lacks an action component?
A Bit Of Mystery?
Some stories pack less action or even no action. Relax. We have a technique for that too.
In this snippet, I take a different approach.
I hint at something bad about to happen but I leave out key details. I’ll share the story first and then I’ll let you in on the details.
The doorbell rang. I looked at the clock. I knew what it meant. I rushed downstairs and ripped open drawer after drawer. It wasn’t there. I stood there like a deer in headlights. Then I remembered. The caddy.
“Ah. Found it.”
I ripped off a piece and covered the switch. Will they find it?
I left out a few key details which added a bit of mystery. That mystery adds curiosity and anticipation to an otherwise boring story.
Here is the original story behind my opening.
The cleaners arrived at our house. They always turn off the lights after cleaning each room. The light switch in my office also turns off the electricity to the outlet nearby. My computer plugs into this outlet. That sends my computer into sleep mode. I lose my VPN connection and have to go through the process all over again. Plus, my coworkers will think I’m offline.
This process transformed the boring original to compelling revision.
1. Write out your full story. Include all the details.
2. Remove one element at a time so that it creates mystery and intrigue.
3. Leave in enough to create a picture. Leave out enough so that your audience feels compelled to try and figure it out.
4. With the basic framework in place you can work on improving it.
It’s a delicate balancing act and worth a few attempts.
Before You Go…
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