Bury the Lede: How to Avoid Burying the Lede in Your Writing

A lede is the first sentence or opening paragraph of a news story that immediately grabs the reader’s attention. The lede sets the groundwork for the rest of the story and entices readers to keep reading. This introductory section provides a statement, establishes a scenario, or sets up a question that the body of the news article will address by supplying the relevant supporting information.

To “bury the lede” (sometimes spelled “bury the lead”) means to delay sharing the essential information in a story, and beginning with secondary details instead. The term originated in the news-writing world but is now applied widely in all fields of writing. While burying the lede is often treated as a writing mistake made by rookie writers, it can also be used deliberately as a way to mask a story’s true meaning to elicit a specific response from readers.

A journalist can “bury the lede” to achieve several different effects:

1. 1. Surprise: In some cases, writers don’t want to reveal the most exciting piece of a story right away. Instead, they may gradually build up to the lede, announcing it later in the story to elicit the biggest response from their readers.
2. 2. Humor: Burying the lede is often used to make audiences laugh—for example, leading with a trivial detail (e.g., “I got a coupon at the grocery store today!”) and then off-handedly mentioning the big news (e.g., “Oh, and I also won a trip to Hawaii.”).
3. 3. Misdirection: Since burying the lede can mask the most critical information in a story, writers can use it to conceal information from readers or listeners for a later payoff.

Burying the lede isn’t always the best choice for every story because it comes with several risks:

1. 1. Confusing your readers: When you bury the lede—either intentionally or accidentally—you can run the risk of seriously confusing your readers. If they’re not paying close attention, they might miss the main point entirely or walk away with a completely different idea of your intentions.
2. 2. Losing your hook: Often, the most important or relevant information is also the most interesting, so most journalists start with this information—it hooks their readers and entices them to keep reading. If you bury the lede and begin with secondary information, your readers may lose interest before they finally make it to the essential facts.
3. 3. Establishing mistrust: Readers want to feel like they can trust a writer as they read, but burying the lede can have the opposite effect. If readers feel like they were deliberately misdirected, they may be less likely to keep reading your work. Burying the lede may work the first time but can potentially alienate your audience.

If you’re writing a newspaper story or blog post that would benefit from presenting the most important information first, here are a few tips to help you avoid burying the lede:

1. 1. Determine the most important information. The best way to avoid burying the lede is to determine the most important information and place it in the first paragraph or even the story’s first sentence. Sometimes, you’ll know your article’s main idea before you sit down, which makes it easier to include this information in your introduction. Other times, the main idea of your piece may evolve or change as you write. After you’ve finished your first draft, re-read and note the information that should take priority, then revise your introduction to incorporate it.
2. 2. Keep your introduction focused. Sometimes, you need to present background information for a topic to get readers up to speed before you give them essential information. When beginning with background information be succinct, offer the vital points and omit details that may distract readers away from your topic. As you write, try to ensure that each new idea brings readers one step closer to your main idea (sometimes referred to as inverted pyramid structure) so that they’re ready by the time they make it to your lede, helping the critical info stand out.
3. 3. Make sure your hook is relevant. A good hook is vital to ensure that your readers will keep reading, but avoid choosing a hook that’s too far away from your main idea. An impressive hook that’s only tangentially related to your subject matter may be eye-catching initially, but readers may feel let down when your article doesn’t deliver on the promise. Sometimes, the best hook is the lede itself—then, readers who are interested in your topic will naturally gravitate to your article.
   

The use of the alternate spelling of lead in the journalistic phrase “burying the lede” began in the 1970s. Newsrooms began to use the alternate spelling to refer to an article’s opening lines, distinguishing it from a part on the linotype machine made with lead. (A linotype is a type-setting machine invented in the late nineteenth century, which contained pieces of metal that separated lines of type, referred to as leads.) Other newsroom jargon includes words like graf (short for paragraph) and hed (headline).

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