I hope this discussion of opening introductions has made you think that it is important to devote a good deal of thought to ensuring that you write a good introduction. For as you can gather from the examples, a good introduction does more than simply gain and hold the reader’s interest. It influences his perceptions.

The narrative flow lends a feeling of plausibility to the writer’s particular interpretation of the situation, which by its nature must be a biased selection of the relevant details; and this feeling of plausibility constricts the reader’s ability to interpret the situation differently. It also gives a sense of inevitable rightness to the logic of the writer’s conclusion, making the reader less inclined to argue with the thinking that follows. Finally, it establishes the writer’s attitude to the reader as a considerate one of wanting him clearly to understand the situation – to see behind the language to the reality it represents.

To emphasize the theory behind writing good introductions:

1. Introductions are meant to remind rather than to inform. This means that nothing should be included that would have to be proved to the reader for him to accept the statements of your points – i.e., no exhibits.

2. They should always contain the three elements of a story. These are the Situation, the Complication, and the Solution. And in longer documents you will want to add an explanation of what is to come. The first three elements need not always be placed in classic narrative order, but they do always need to be included, and they should be woven into story form.

3. The length of the introduction depends on the needs of the reader and the demands of the subject. Thus, there is scope to include whatever is necessary for full understanding: history or background of the problem, outline of your involvement in it, any earlier investigations you or others have made and their conclusions, definitions of terms, and statements of admissions. All these items can and should be woven into the story, however.

---

中文翻译：

希望这一关于开篇引言的讨论能够让你认识到，确保写出一个好的引言是多么重要。正如你从例子中可以体会到的，一个好的引言不仅仅是为了吸引并保持读者的兴趣，它还会影响他们的认知。

叙述的流畅性会让作者对情境的特定解释显得更可信，而这种解释本质上必须是对相关细节的偏向性选择；这种可信感会限制读者以不同方式解读情境的能力。它还会让读者感觉到作者结论逻辑的不可避免性，从而减少对后续思考的争议。最后，它确立了作者对读者的态度，表现出一种体贴，即希望读者能够清晰地理解情境——透过语言看到它所代表的现实。

为了强调关于写好引言的理论：

1. 引言的目的是提醒，而不是告知。 这意味着不应包含任何需要向读者证明的内容，以让他们接受你的观点——即，不需要提供证据。

2. 引言应始终包含故事的三个要素。 即情境、冲突和解决。在较长的文档中，你还需要添加对接下来内容的解释。这三个要素不一定需要按照经典叙述顺序排列，但它们始终需要包含，并应以故事形式编织在一起。

3. 引言的长度取决于读者的需求和主题的要求。 因此，可以包括任何必要的内容以确保充分理解：问题的历史或背景，你参与其中的概述，你或其他人先前的调查及其结论，术语定义，以及相关声明。所有这些内容都可以并且应该融入故事之中。

Some common patterns

As time goes on and you find yourself thinking through the introductions to a variety of documents, you will notice some common patterns begin to emerge. Which patterns will become common for you will, of course, depend on the business you are in. But to show you what I mean, here are the five patterns I have seen repeated most often, drawn from both business and consulting. They are:

1. Directives

2. Requests for funds

3. 'How to' documents

4. Letters of Proposal

5. Progress Reviews

---

中文翻译：

一些常见模式

随着时间的推移，当你开始思考各种文件的引言时，你会发现一些常见的模式逐渐显现。当然，哪些模式会对你来说变得常见，取决于你所处的行业。但为了说明我的意思，这里是我在商业和咨询领域中最常见到的五种模式：

1. 指令性文件

2. 资金申请

3. “如何做”文档

4. 建议书

5. 进度评估