They say the hardest part of writing is the beginning. While I don’t necessarily agree, I’m pretty sure most intermediate writers need plenty of help when it comes to writing introductions.
The introduction will typically span the first paragraph (or more) of any written piece of work. Done well, they should do the following things:
- inform the reader about what the text will be about
- capture your readers’ attention to make them want to read more
- offer a background on the subject of the writing
- introduce your thesis
More so than other parts of your writing, you will need to ensure your introduction is well-written, with proper grammar and sentence structure. It’s, essentially, your invitation to the reader – mess it up and they’ll be less likely to proceed any further. As such, make sure you to employ the best writing software you can scrounge up to fashion your introduction into shape.
An introduction need not be the first thing you write. In fact, some people choose to dive right into the body of their text, before even thinking about how to introduce. Whichever works best for you should suffice.
You can write your introduction in any of a million different ways. As long as it achieves the four objectives we set forth above, it should be an acceptable structure. If you’re having a hard time coming up with one, however, you can follow this age-old way of crafting an introduction:
- start by writing a general statement about the subject
- follow it up with brief, but more detailed background information
- end it with your thesis statement
