The key to a great article is the first sentence. That's often known as "the hook." You want that first sentence to be a big giant hook that comes out into the audience and grabs them by the seat of their pants to get them engaged with the topic. Sometimes the hook is a few sentences long, but rarely over three sentences. If your reader is not hooked within the first three sentences, typically you've lost their interest. They may skim the rest of your article reading titles, and bullets, but they won't be as involved as when the hook grabs them and sends their imagination whirling through your fantasy world. ... cont'd ...