We’ve been talking a lot about story beginnings in my writing classes this semester. Last week, I had my students read this excerpt on opening scenes from Hooked by Les Edgerton. He makes lots of great points, but the one that really stood out to me was about opening lines.
Spend an awful lot of time on this sentence. In fact, more effort should be expended on your story’s first sentence than on any other line in your entire story. No kidding. The first sentence is the first thing the readers will see when they open the door of your manuscript or story. Make sure it’s a good ’un! One that will create a strong impression. My own favorite is one I used in my short story “The Bad Part of Town,” which begins: He was so mean that wherever he was standing became the bad part of town.
The opening line is SO important because it has the power to pull you right into the story. It shouldn’t feel gimmicky, but it should make your audience want to keep reading. That’s a lot of pressure for a single sentence, but doing it right can really pay off.
Here are a few great opening lines I found while going through the books on my shelf:
-The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don’t got nothing much to say.
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
-”If I was going to kill the Prophet,” I say, not even keeping my voice low, “I’d do it in Africa.”
The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams
-The end of the world started when a pegasus landed on the hood of my car.
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
-It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression “As pretty as an airport.”
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
-We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.
Feed by MT Anderson
What are some of your favorite opening lines?
- Categories: A Closer Look, Craft, Resources
I love that craft book.
Opening lines are really important. I’ve bought novels during my bookstore browses based on openings. These lines capture my attention and I keep reading, become intrigued and then take book the register, lol.
But for ones that do not capture me, I stop reading and put the novel back on the shelf.
You proved your point admirably here. I want to read some of those books now because I’m intrigued by the opening lines!
Those are some awesome opening lines! And a couple of my favorite books..
Thanks for including the examples. It is great advice. I have tinkered and tinkered with the first line of the novel, and I needed the encouragement to work on it some more!
Karen, I usually give the book the first page or so to impress me before I decide whether or not to buy it, but if it has a great opening line then I’m usually that much more eager to read it.
Cheryl, I’m glad these openings succeeded in grabbing your attention! Deciding which opening lines to include was surprisingly easy. The ones that worked just jumped right out at me.
Lisa, this list includes several of my faves too. It’s funny how often books with great opening lines are just overall good reads!
Thanks Tina! I spend a lot of time with openings lines too; sometimes it feels like working on a picture book because every word has to be exactly right. Good luck with the tinkering!
Yes. Opening lines are important. But I think the opening paragraph is just as important. Because I’ve recently figured out that I read a book based on voice, not plot. And it’s hard to get the full impression of voice in the first sentence. I always give it the first paragraph or even the first page. Gosh, I don’t mind description if it’s got a good voice. So that’s why first lines I liked aren’t popping into my head right now.
I’m a fan of the classic “Where are you going with that axe, Pa?” from Charlotte’s Web. Such a great opening–I actually based my first line on a similar concept (dramatic dialog).
Laura, I think you’re right that voice is much harder to convey in a single line. Plot-driven books do tend to have more gripping opening lines. I like to give a book the first paragraph or page to grab me, but the ones that can do it in a single sentence are even more impressive!
Beth, that is definitely an oldie but a goodie! It’s amazing to me how timeless CW continues to be.
I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice… (a prayer for owen meany by john irving)
I love these examples! Here’s one I just came across from the YA novel Undone by Brooke Taylor:
My best friend Kori came with a warning label—a black t-shirt that read: “Don’t believe everything you hear about me.”
Doesn’t that just make you want to read more?
Ruth Donnelly
http://www.readatouille.com
That’s a great opening line! It makes me wonder about Kori’s character and what possible trouble she and the narrator will get into.
Hi Anna,
I just wanted to thank you for the props you gave my book, “Hooked.” I’m glad it’s helped you in your own writing and I’m really glad it’s helped young writers. Don’t you just love working with beginning writers? They’re just lots and lots of fun. They have a fresh way of looking at the world that translates to originality of story. I teach beginners also, and I learn more from them than they do from me!
Blue skies,
Les
Les, I’m happy to refer people to your wonderful book! And I absolutely know what you mean about learning from your students – mine are so filled with enthusiasm that it makes me want to figure things out right along with them.
I’m also reading HOOKED right now, and have a post that references it scheduled for Thursday!
Marcia, it’s a useful little book. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it!
Those are GREAT opening lines!
Another good one, from The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides: “On the morning the last Lisbon daughter took her turn at suicide — it was Mary this time, and sleeping pills, like Therese — the two paramedics arrived at the house knowing exactly where the knife drawer was, and the gas oven, and the beam in the basement from which it was possible to tie a rope.”
Ooh, that’s a great opening. It’s not as short and to-the-point as the ones above, but it’s certainly intriguing and leaves us wanting more!
‘Mother died today. Or maybe it was yesterday – I don’t know…”
Albert Camus ‘THe Outsider’
Another great, classic opening! It gets us right into the story at the moment of change and gives us a glimpse of the narrator’s mental state.