“ The Introduction: Sparking the Reader ’ s Interest ” Yves Ville, MD Editor

1. “The Introduction: Sparking the Reader’s Interest” Yves Ville, MD Editor American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology Université Paris Descartes Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades Yves Ville, AJOG, 2016.

2. THE BEGINNING « In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. » Genesis 1New International Version (NIV) Antoni Tapies. Il Principio, 1985 Botero Foundation, Bogota Yves Ville, AJOG, 2016.

3. STRENGTHStarting on the right foot • Most read section • Address the right audience(s) • (Re)writeat the end • Writeaccurately http://www.ballroomdancething.com/2011/02/quickstep-1-3-natural-and-back-lock.html A major part of any writing assignment consists of re-writing... Yves Ville, AJOG, 2016.

4. STRENGTHCatch the essence « All children, except one, grow up.  » J.M. Barrie: Peter Pan (1911) • Be aware of whowillbereadingyourmanuscript • Move fromgeneral to specific • Write in the presenttenseexcept for whatyoudid or found • Be concise Yves Ville, AJOG, 2016.

5. STRENGTHCoherence «  All this happened, more or less »  Kurt Vonnegut, 1969 • XY is an important issueAuthor A came up with this explanationAuthor B proposed an alternative explanationTo date, it is unknown what the role of the phenomenon Z is.Phenomenon Z could be important because of this, that, and something else. • Here, we investigate the role of phenomenon Z in the context of ... Specifically, we addressed X aims: • First, we tested whether ...Second, we compared our findings ... • Summarise the key finding: “We show that ...” • Any questions left unanswered and any new questions generated by your study Yves Ville, AJOG, 2016.

6. STRENGTHTick the boxes • The background • The problem • The proposed solution • An anticipation of the conclusions • Relatedwork • The outline (plan of the paper) Yves Ville, AJOG, 2016.

7. WEAKNESSPoorlyconstructedand uninformative • Full history of the topic • Avalanche of names and refs Yves Ville, AJOG, 2016.

8. WEAKNESSTo forget the reader’s needs « If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. » • The checklist phenomenon • Obscure Generality • Idiosyncrasies • Lack of hierarcchy / structure • « Talmud-ism » J.D Salinger, 1951 O. Godreich 2004 Yves Ville, AJOG, 2016.

9. OPPORTUNITYCatch the readers’ interest "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect." Twoaudiences: • First, the referees • Second, the journal readersthemselves Franz Kafka 1915 Yves Ville, AJOG, 2016.

10. OPPORTUNITYJustification of the work Consider • anchoringthe context in time • anchoringyourcontext in space « Somewhere in la Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember, a gentleman lived not long ago, one of those who has a lance and ancient shield on a shelf and keeps a skinny nag and a greyhound for racing. » Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote (1605) Yves Ville, AJOG, 2016.

11. THE WORK A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed.Henrik Ibsen For the task, • Whomeverdid the workis the subject of the sentence • Use a verbexpressing a researchaction in the pasttense. Yvon Taillandier, Vélo pour centaure à 6 jambes Collection Louis Guyard Yves Ville, AJOG, 2016.

12. THREATSAwareness of the knowledgelevel of the reader • Complex concepts / definitions • Elaborate on proofs • Special v. general case • Hidingdifficulties • Number of new concepts Annonciation, Anonymous, circa 1420 Collège de Vevey Yves Ville, AJOG, 2016.

13. TYPE OF MANUSCRIPT « You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter. » Mark Twain 1884-12 • Use the document as the subject • Use a verbexpressing a communication action Yves Ville, AJOG, 2016.

14. WRITE SUCCINTLY «  I am an invisible man. »  Ralph Ellison 1952 1. Use verbsinstead of abstract nouns 2. Use strongverbsinstead of "to be" 3. Use short words. 4. Use concise terms. 5. Use short sentences. "The conjunction 'and' commonly serves to indicate that the writer's mind still functions even when no signs of the phenomenon are noticeable." Rudolf Virchow, 1928 http://www.columbia.edu/cu/biology/ug/research/paper.html

15. USE SHORT SENTENCESDo not think of makinghistory https://uscrow.org/resources/prepper-guides/united-states-constitution/ « We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America » Yves Ville, AJOG, 2016.