More on Writing The Introduction: Excerpt From My Book: A Friendly Guide to Writing & Ghostwriting
If you want people to read your introduction, make it short, direct and compelling. Whatever you want them to know, say it once and move on. Trust your audience to be smart enough to understand what you’re telling them.
I was once hired by a woman to edit a book she was writing about a terrible divorce she was going through. She had been to hell and back, it wasn’t over yet, and she had some valid experiences to share about surviving aggression and chaos. But her intro was dry and she kept repeating and rewording what she had said in the previous sentence. I knew she was taking a huge leap to tell the truth on the page, I respected that it was a delicate situation, but I had to let her know that her intro wasn’t working.. That was why she hired me. I tried to do it in a tactful way. “It must be really hard to do this,” I said, “but I think it would be good to rework the intro so it isn’t so repetitive. Let’s do it together.”
She got defensive. “I have to repeat myself,” she said sharply. “I’m sharing something very important and I need to make sure people are getting my point.”
She took the book back into her own hands and she refused to change anything. I was glad to let it go and it was no surprise that she never found an agent or a publisher.
In order to make an intro interesting, I sometimes like to start with a story that draws a reader in. Or I might begin with a statement that demonstrates the function of the book in interesting terms.
Here are the first two paragraphs of a well fashioned introduction to a classic non-fiction book, The Road Less Traveled by Scott Peck:
Life is complex.
Each one of us must make his own path through life. There are no self-help manuals, no formulas, no easy answers. The right road for one is the wrong road for another. Nowhere in this book will you find it said, “Go this way.” “Make a left turn here.” The journey of life is not paved in blacktop; it is not brightly lit, and it has no road signs. It is a rocky path through the wilderness.
In this book, I will endeavor to put down some of the things I have learned in the past ten years which have eased my way as I groped through the wilderness. But if I tell you that when I lost my way, I found it again by following the moss growing on the north side of trees, I will most certainly have to warn you that in the redwood forests, there are many trees covered with moss on all sides.
In the opening sentence of the intro above, Mr. Peck states that life is complex. We can all agree. Then he goes on to explain why that idea is so hard to grasp and what the book will and will not do. His intro gives me a sense that the author and I are traveling on a path together to figure something out. And that’s only the first paragraph.
His second paragraph offers a promise about what he intends to do, explaining his approach in a lyrical and humble fashion. He doesn’t ramble on. He doesn’t claim to be superior to his readers. He doesn’t repeat himself. He lets us know what the topic is and why it’s so difficult to find answers. He reminds us that the moss grows all around the tree and it’s our job to figure out which side is right for us. What if the moss turns out to be poison ivy?
I like to run my intro by a smart and kind friend before I go forward. If I see that it doesn’t hit home, I pay attention and do the difficult task of starting over. If it works, I start writing Chapter One.
Here are some tips about what to do and what not do to make your introduction a good one:
Things to do in an introduction:
1. Use clear, easy to understand language
2. Let people know whether you’re answering a universal question in your book or if you’re going on a journey of discovery together.
3. Explain why your book is worth spending their time and money.
4. Show your readers why you are qualified to write about this particular topic.
5. Offer a takeaway that can improve a reader’s life.`
6. Promise only what you are prepared to give.
7. Suggest who the book is for and why.
8. Make the intro concise and interesting enough to draw readers in and make them want more.
Things to avoid in an introduction:
1. Arrogance and a know-it-all attitude
2. Putting down another person
3. Making it so long and rambling, no one will want to read it
4. Telling your life story ad nauseum
5. Offering the moon and giving a scrap
6. Standing apart from your readers by claiming to be better than they are
7. Repeating your ideas
8. Telling readers that their lives will be worse if they don't read your book. That sounds like a demand and a threat.
If it’s appropriate, I try to inject a little humor or lightheartedness in my intro, just to assure my readers that I won’t be droning on or drumming absolutes into their heads. I won’t be asking them to slog through a load of academic and deadly serious material. I’m showing them that I won't be depressing them, no matter how heavy the topic. I won't be trying to sway their opinions to match mine or make light of their beliefs. I’m suggesting that maybe we could have a good time together. If readers are bored and feel hopeless before they get to the first chapter, it doesn’t mean that they’re shallow, impatient, or negative. It means that you didn’t hook them and it’s time to go back to Square One. You don’t have to see this as a setback. Rather, you can view it as a second chance to find a way to encourage a reader to go on to Chapter One.