Your grabber is the beginning passage to the rest of your article. You have to have one! To not have one would be like having a car without wheels, there's no fun.
And just how do you get one? You can sit down with it, like I did, until something strikes you fancy. You can sleep on it and hope to get inspired. You could meditate. But whatever you do, keep thinking about it. Keep writing your grabbers, even is they seem more boring than watching linoleum peel. It'll come.
But to give you a boost in the right direction I sifted through my favorite magazines to give you ten up-most, awesome grabbers. Please note, however, these grabbers are so grabbing that they are copyrighted, so don't muss with them.
- "Frisbee just got funkier..." (Jump)
- "Shawn Hatosy has it all backward." (Jump)
- "Who knows....if riverboat captain Kai Binkley had been at the
helm of the Titanic, Jack and Rose might be grandparents today." (Jump)
- "Expect fame and fortune and shiny gold dollar signs. Just
don't expect them right away." (Young Money)
- "My Poor Dad often said, "Our house is an asset and our
biggest investment." My Rich Dad said, "Your house is not an
asset, and if it is your biggest investment, you are in financial
trouble." (Young Money)
- "75 percent of high school graduates either don't go to
college, or drop out their first year." (Young Money)
- "Commit to 30 months of Internet service with Intersquid and
they'll give you a computer." (Young Money)
- "Your days of begging to borrow the credit card are history!"
(CosmoGirl!)
- "There are two ways to get noticed." (CosmoGirl!)
- "Women in Bangladesh who rebuff men's advances are getting
acid thrown in their faces." (Jane)
What are the rules to awesome grabbers? Well never, ever start a grabber with a name (unless it's a well known personality) or with passive words. You want to send tingles down your readers spine; to do this you use action words, stats, explosive ideas and tidbits. Questions are good, but don't answer them right away. Let your story do that. An example: "Are women better drivers?" It wouldn't help your article to follow that question with the sentence, "Yes they are." Seven word stories aren't in high demand.
Another great idea is to look at your audience. Is it teens? Teen gals? Teen guys? What's important to your readers? Focus on them, and draw them in with something that speaks to them.
Undoubtedly if your grabber has bang, the rest of your article will be a breeze. So keep writing!