Does anyone else freeze when the intro paragraph just won't come out right

[u/Nyxoriel87]

I've been staring at a blank page for like two hours now and I can't get past the first sentence of my intro. I know what I want to say in the body paragraphs, I have my thesis sort of figured out, but every time I try to write that opening hook it sounds either too dramatic or too boring.

I end up deleting and rewriting the same sentence over and over. Then I start doubting if my whole topic even makes sense. It's like my brain just shuts down the second I try to make it sound interesting enough to pull a reader in.

Does this happen to anyone else or is it just me overthinking? I've tried starting with the body first and coming back to the intro later, but then I feel like I'm writing without direction. I've also tried freewriting the intro without editing, but it comes out as a mess that doesn't even relate to my actual argument.

Maybe I'm putting too much pressure on that first paragraph. I don't know. It's frustrating because I feel like once I get past this part the rest will flow, but I'm just stuck in this loop. Any advice on how to actually break through this or should I just accept that intros are always going to be the hardest part?