Most "good" writing is throat-clearing

Cut the first three paragraphs of anything you publish.

The fourth is usually where the real piece starts.

The first three paragraphs are the writer warming up. Setting up the context. Justifying the topic. Hedging in case anyone misreads them. Earning the right to make the actual point.

The reader doesn't need any of that.

The reader showed up because the title intrigued them. They want the point. They will leave if they don't get it within thirty seconds.

The throat-clearing exists because the writer needed to write it to find what they actually wanted to say. That's fine. That's what first drafts are for.

The published version doesn't need it.

Three tests I run on my own openers:

Read the first paragraph aloud. If it could be deleted without losing anything, it should be.

Find the sentence in the piece that's most interesting. Move it to the start.

If the piece doesn't make sense without paragraph one, paragraph one is doing important work. Keep it. If it does make sense, paragraph one was for you, not the reader.

Most editors do this for the writer. If you don't have an editor, do it for yourself.

Cut, then cut more.

The published piece is the part the reader needs. The rest was the cost of finding it.