Editing Incubator escapee wiki:Writing better articles (section)

===Introductory material / Lead===
{{More|#Lead section|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lead section}}

Articles start with a [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lead section|lead section]] ([[WP:CREATELEAD]]) summarising the most important points of the topic. The lead section is the first part of the article; it comes above the first header, and may contain a [[MOS:LEADIMAGE|lead image]] which is representative of the topic, and/or an [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Infoboxes|infobox]] that provides a few key facts, often statistical, such as dates and measurements.

The lead should stand on its own as a concise overview of the article's topic, identifying the topic, establishing context, and explaining why the topic is [[Wikipedia:Notability|notable]]. The first few sentences should mention the most notable features of the article's subject – the essential facts that every reader should know. Significant information should not appear in the lead if it is not covered in the remainder of the article; the article should provide further details on all the things mentioned in the lead. Each major section in the article should be represented with an appropriate summary in the lead, including any prominent controversies; but be careful not to violate [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|WP:Neutral point of view]] by giving undue attention to less important controversies, information, or praise in the lead section. As in the body of the article itself, the emphasis given to material in the lead should roughly [[WP:DUE|reflect its importance to the topic]], according to [[Wikipedia:Verifiability#Reliable sources|reliable, published sources]].

Lead sections generally contain no more than about 400 words. Citations are usually but not always optional; see [[WP:CITELEAD]].