Title
Popular magazine article titles want to catch our attention. They compete with each other for our attention. If the title gets us to stop browsing other titles and start reading the article, it’s effective.
Browse the titles in the March 2019 issue of Psychology Today for a sample.
Grabber (or Hook)
The grabber starts the introduction. It wants to grab us. To make us want to know more. This is generally achieved by getting us to care or be surprised. Some common strategies include these:
- telling an anecdotal story
- making a bold assertion
- asking an intriguing question
- stating a fact that has impact
How long it is depends on the overall length of the article. One or two paragraphs is typical. This one from Jena E. Pincott’s article “Silencing your inner critic” is three paragraphs long and uses the anecdotal story technique to get us interested.
Question
The introduction typically ends with a question that is either asked outright or is implied. The rest of the article then goes about the business of trying to provide an answer or answers.
After the anecdotal part of the introduction to her article “Silencing your inner critic,” author Jena E. Pincott writes “But over time, the self-critic can take a toll” and the next line is the heading “Your Own Worst Enemy?” As readers, we know the article will be exploring the impacts of being critical of ourselves.
Development Paragraphs
Development paragraphs are pretty straightforward.
If we think of the introduction as the head and the conclusion as the feet, the development paragraphs are the body in between.
They’re where the author tries to answer the question from the introduction by exploring different aspects of the topic. This development of the article’s topic organizes the paragraphs into sections, one for each aspect.
Content paragraphs typically inform readers through:
- quotations of experts and others
- facts & statistics
- logical arguments
- explanations
- descriptions
- anecdotes
Transition sentences, which are often a paragraph all by themselves, move the reader from one section or paragraph to the next.
The body paragraphs in the article “Silencing your inner critic” use a lot of quotations and explanation. They use an anecdotal story to transition from one aspect to another.
Conclusion
The conclusion for popular magazine articles is usually pretty short. One paragraph. Two at most.
It tends to first remind the reader of the question from the introduction that was being answered.
It then often turns toward the future, using the answer or answers to the question to encourage the reader to keep thinking about the topic’s significance for future days.
In the article “Silencing your inner critic,” author Jena E. Pincott uses the last two paragraphs to return to the anecdote that started the introduction and show that excessive self-criticism can be overcome and lead to a better tomorrow. This encourages readers to ask themselves if maybe someone they know or maybe they themselves are too self-critical and should be making some healthy changes.