CATCH-AND-KEEP-THEM OPENINGS

The best place to start rewriting is with your first paragraph, where you should assert your point and immediately engage your readers. Next, rework the body of your document before touching other words. Here’s why: when making structural changes, you’ll probably need to shift, cut, and break paragraphs into sections, tossing words around like dice at a crapshoot. If you rewrite for word use first, you might waste time refining words you’ll eventually cut. In addition, you’ll probably need to backtrack, revisiting transitions and other words and phrases you already covered.
IMAGINE THIS
Imagine that your document is a cliff that your readers are
scaling. You must lead them carefully, strategically, step by
excruciating step or they will lose their footing and fall. The
toeholds are your transitions, taking them from one thought
to the next; the substance of your message is the solid surface,
keeping them from sliding on loose particles; the benefit of
reading your document is the view that waits ahead.