The first line. The utmost pressure on a small fraction of your story. It’s got to be enticing and captivating for readers to continue. Its got to get their imagination running.
It’s also your 2nd or 3rd opportunity to impress your future reader. Depending on whether the cover-page encouraged them to seek out the blurb or the opening page first.
A task is full of minefields.
From your writing style to the words not holding an interesting enough foresight.
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Table of Contents
What Kind Of Text Is Opening/ First Lines?
There are 3 distinct opening line frameworks most writers use. Styles can also mix.
Dialogue
“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, he told me, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
An Action
“When he grabs mama’s wrist and yanks her toward the wall-hanging like that, it must hurt.”
Bitterblue, Kristin Cashore
A Statement
“Psychics can see the colour of time it’s blue.”
Blown Away, Ronald Sukenick
Each choice is equally as effective. So there’s no need to worry about choosing the right one.
Consider which would suit your story best once you have amassed enough to know what your readers can expect out of this book. Remember, it is not set in stone and can change at any time!
If you’re still unsure here are some places you can get support:
- Book Writing Coach, someone like Lisa Tener can help you at every stage of your story. With an expert who can lead you to make great decisions to make your future readers addicted to turning the next page.
- Skillshare, with a collection of many experts and thousands of courses, you’ll be able to find the right fit for you and your writing style.
What can you do to hook readers in?
6 Ways To Captivate The Reader In Your First Line
There is nothing better than learning from some of the most well-known books, and how their first lines stuck with the readers.
1 A Simple Fact
“All children, except one, grow up.”
Peter Pan, JM Barrie
“In the town, there were two mutes and they were always together.”
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCuller
2 Vivid Image
“He was Born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.”
“He was Born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.”
“Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.”
One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
3 Surprise!
The might be the most important advice on this list, catching the audience off guard.
“Later, as he sat on his balcony eating the dog, Dr Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place within this huge apartment building during the previous three months.”
High-Rise by JG Ballard
“We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.”
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S Thompson
4 Humor
“I don’t know how other men feel about their wives walking out on them, but I helped mine pack.”
Breaking Up, Bill Manville
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”
The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien
5 Clear
“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.”
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, JK Rowling
“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.”
The Catcher in the Rye, J. D Salinger
6 Contain The Entirety of a Novel
“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.”
The Metamorphosis, Kafka
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
A captivating first line of a story comes in different shapes and sizes. Craft your own today!
Here are some other blogs you may be interested in:
- The Writing Zone: 4 Tips To Set You Up For Creative Sucess
- Bring Your Writing To Life: Adding Emotive Words
- How To Drive Your Story Forward Using Your Characters: The Start
- From Idea To Story: How To Build A Story From A Spark
- Stuck Inside: How To Start Your First Book
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This is a really great post! I loved all the examples you provided.
Thank you, I am glad you’ve enjoyed it and it has been useful 🙂