When the Argentine army surrendered in June of 1982, ending the Falklands War, some Royal Marines discovered that the quickest way to get the attention of stubborn Argentine prisoners, since we did not speak their language, and they did not speak ours, was to hit them on the elbow with the handle of a pickaxe. Prisoners treated in this fashion followed our orders.

I would no longer recommend this as a way to treat my fellow human beings, but I have learned that the same tactic applies to writing fundraising letters. Unless you can gain and sustain the attention of your reader, and do so quickly, you have lost. Lost your donor, and lost your donation.

In the world of dramatic fiction, creative authors understand the need to grab their readers immediately and not let them go until the end of the story. The place they do this first if the first line. Their advice to writers of fundraising letters is simple: