Comments on: Grip Your Readers With These 7 Knock-out Opening Sentences

By: Babara Rozgonyi, WIred PR Works

Babara Rozgonyi, WIred PR Works — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 00:20:51 +0000

What powerful ways to grab interest in your reader/s, Skellie!

Great examples. This suggestion caught my attention:

“Beginning with a tough question works because, even if you don’t have a complete answer, you’ll probably have some advice or useful thoughts on the matter.”

Inquiring minds can’t resist finding solutions. Sparking the discovery process gets and keeps them on track. The more you can make it about them, the better. This tactic works to engage readers in commenting and connecting.

By: Rob

Rob — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 02:44:28 +0000

Good post. Skellie you are everywhere I look these days :) As somebody just learning how to write I found this article is practical and immediately useful. Thx.

By: LifeTweak

LifeTweak — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:00:33 +0000

Wow :) Skellie! Here you go, I’m your new fan :) Superb post. Thanks for your lovely insights :)

By: Ann L.

Ann L. — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 20:53:49 +0000

Thanks Shellie,
I noticed that not one suggestion was ‘fill the first sentence with keywords’.

By: Best of ProBlogger - 2007

Best of ProBlogger - 2007 — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 13:53:49 +0000

[...] Grip Your Readers With These 7 Knock-out Opening Sentences [...]

By: Pachecus

Pachecus — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 21:25:42 +0000

Excellent post Skillie. Thank you

By: edie

edie — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 13:00:02 +0000

I will be use this tips at my websites. Thank you!

By: chloe

chloe — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:42:28 +0000

Yah great post :) very helpful again.

By: Muhammad Siyab

Muhammad Siyab — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:10:56 +0000

great tips!

By: Interwebhunt

Interwebhunt — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:27:54 +0000

Always good to draw the reader in within the first two sentences. These are excellent starting points and a well written post indeed. If you can engage your reader instantly you’ve hooked them for the entire article most likely.

By: 66tx

66tx — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:45:51 +0000

Great post, Skellie, like always

By: Vancouver Island SEO

Vancouver Island SEO — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:59:40 +0000

I’ve found a lot of the same things that you have mentioned in your post. I’ve always found that people can’t resist a question, well at least the intellectuals among us :) When blogging, and doing link building I’ve found that if you post a question you get people interested, and if your link building your comment is a lot more likely to not be pulled. Cheers.

By: Madlab Post

Madlab Post — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 23:00:33 +0000

Skellie,

This is a useful post. I have been on a short break, but have been trying to figure out how to make headlines more attractive. It seems that most people flock to gossip or bad news which is something that I am not very interested in writing about much. However, even with posts that may seem boring to readers, there are ways to get people to read your posts if you title and structure it properly.

By: Pablo

Pablo — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 22:55:50 +0000

Sometimes, the opening line with a twist, play on words, or humor can snag someone’s attention. The only risk is if the humor is too off the wall they may not take you seriously.

By: Kimota

Kimota — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 22:49:03 +0000

Another great post from Skellie – already fast becoming one of my ‘must reads’ in my rss feeds.

I know the art of the opening line is one I need to work on, so prone to waffling out the first paragraph in a misguided attempt to set the ground. An opening line such as the above sets the ground far more effectively than a verbose opening paragraph of back story or establishing information.

By: tAxX

tAxX — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 17:09:20 +0000

Great post, Skellie, like always :)

By: Pijoo

Pijoo — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 06:59:11 +0000

Great examples, and bookmarked for future reference, although the 1st one would probably seem too impersonal to make me read a post.

By: Steven Aitchison

Steven Aitchison — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 06:34:17 +0000

Skellie, this is another great post. I have used a few of these methods but look forward to trying out some of your other suggestions.

By: Skellie

Skellie — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:05:57 +0000

@ Kelly DuMar: I think it’s great that you’ve picked up the wider point of focusing on your audience. You must be a natural! :-)

By: Kelly DuMar

Kelly DuMar — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 17:26:00 +0000

Skellie, what strikes me about these wonderful tips is how much they each invite me (or force me!) to FOCUS ON MY READER. This question of “Who am I writing to?” – who is my audience and what does she/he care about? is a challenging question. I think it’s tempting to write in a blog the way we might write in a diary – our audience is ourself. Boring. I’m really new to blogging, so keeping my reader(s!) in mind is essential if I want to build a relationship. Thanks.