leads - the most important of any article...

taken from Bobby Hawthorne

Remember to avoid cliches

Kinds of feature leads:

Literary allusion - relates a person or event to some character or event in literature
Historical allusion - relates a person or event to some character or event in history
contrast - compares extremes
Miscellaneous freak leads - employ ingenious novelty to attract the reader's eye
pun - a novelty that uses a pun to quirk the reader's attention
one word - uses a blunt, explosive word to summarize the most newsworthy
parody lead - mimics as well-known proverb, quotation or phrase
starting statement - consists of a single powerful statement meant to startle the reader
description - sets a tone and puts the reader inside a place, situation or shows a person
capsule or punch lead - uses a blunt, explosive statement to summarize teh most newsworthy feature
anecdotal lead - uses an event to represent teh universal experience
then and now - shows progress
twist of fate - reveals an odd turn of events or unusual twist on an old story.
question -serves best when a problem with reader appeal is the crux of the story.
quote - as a general rule, avoid quote leads.  When used, the quote should be dynamic and capture the theme of the story.