The beginning of a piece of writing or speech; the opening passage, sentence, or lead-in.
小説の書き出しで読者の興味を引くことが大切だ。
It's important to hook the reader with the opening of a novel.
メールの書き出しは簡単な挨拶から始めるとよい。
It's good to start an email with a simple greeting.
プレゼンの書き出しに強い印象を残すスライドを用意した。
I prepared a slide that leaves a strong impression at the start of the presentation.
Dated usage: a written claim or itemized statement; an old-fashioned term found in historical documents.
古い帳簿に当時の書き出しが残っていた。
The old ledger still had itemized statements from that time.
その書類の書き出しは明治期の慣例に従っていた。
The wording of that document followed Meiji-period conventions.