Hi fellow scholars~ Are you drafting your ‘Intro Intro’ at the mo? I call it so … because some academic Handbooks include the lit review as part of the Intro~ confusing! imo
The Intro Intro focuses on: A hook to engage the reader, definition/s, relevant stats for prevalence, 'where-the-research-is-at-in-a-nutshell, the research problem in a sentence, and why the taxpayer should care why they are funding such research (tips in the printable resource [for paid subscribers]).
Accordingly, the Chalice of Composition download is a paragraph-by-paragraph structure that I’ve drawn from 30+ real thesis draft editing comments and convos with students.
Think of your Intro Intro, not as a vague funnel, but as a deliberate narrowing, from broad brim to tapered stem:
Start wide with real-world stakes (make it matter)
Define your core construct clearly (no rushed textbook blurbs)
Map what we briefly know (without drifting into a literature review)
Expose the gap with evidence (not hand-waving)
Land on a sharp, justified ‘sell’ of your research topic
Also within the download I share where many students often lose marks (e.g., overloading the Introduction with study-by-study detail or claiming a vague research problem).
If your introduction feels bloated, flat, or directionless, this framework will give it spine.
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