“Mother died today.” – Albert Camus, The Stranger. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” – Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice. If I ever leave the Liberties, she promised herself, I’m never coming back. It can also simply tease and perplex us with a statement that doesn’t immediately reveal much. Read them and then write your own opening paragraph! Spoken word–dialogue Opening Lines By starting with dialogue, the story signals that this is a of novel of relationships and of truth-telling or its opposite. And she closed her eyes and let the great sea take her, away from Dublin, away from the Liberties, and away from her daddy’s raw, red fists. But immediately you know this is going somewhere profound. His LAST one. “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby. She turned her head sideways; her ma stood in the doorway, she had her apron bunched in her fist, Mary in her arms, Liam and Ann peering from behind her skirts. 8. It establishes the entire theme of the masculine/feminine dynamic which defines the story. I have two things on my mind: baking cookies and my iminent death. There was a fine dusting of frost on the corpse’s hair and eyelids which gave it a festive touch.” –, 6. I … Find ‘The Unkillable Kitty O’Kane’ for audio, kindle or paperback here at Amazon. Overblown, overdone, Hemingway’s eyes would have bled. Folktale Openings from Storytell. “All children, except one, grow up.” – J.M. Just bear it, Kit. 30. Well it’s a world we all wonder about so Rubenfeld has our attention immediately. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. The walls were a brick color—pink distemper her ma called it, some kind of powder they’d mix in water. 18. 10 Opening Line Ideas. ‘Without his having done anything bad.’ Really? There is a formula to compelling opening lines and it is about creating a story within a single line - even if it is not the story … A fierce wind tugged at its broken shutters. It speaks of agonising loss and takes us to the brink of despair, only to reveal hope, helping us to realise—to feel—the resilience of the title. What could possibly be their situation? There was a fine dusting of frost on the corpse’s hair and eyelids which gave it a festive touch.” – Cry Justice, Colin Falconer. 43. She could smell beer and blood, that sour, copper stink of the two together. I believe this is what agents mean when they use the term: ‘voice’. transporting them to another place and time). “They shoot the white girl first.” –Toni Morrison, Paradise, 12. Burgess introduces not only his characters but the new language he uses in the novel. But it’s the first lines are crucial in helping us decide whether we are going to keep reading or not. “An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story,” he said. The 10 Most Terrifying Opening Lines From Books "It was a pleasure to burn.". “When the guy with asthma finally came in from the fire escape, Parker rabbit-punched him and took his gun away.” – Richard Stark, (Donald Westlake) The Mourner, 31. —Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow (1973) 4. She got tired of crawling, so she lay there and waited for the next stripe. “I have never begun a novel with more misgiving.” – W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor’s Edge, 17. When you click the button, a random first line for a story will be generated. And this introductory sentence craftily entices us into the protagonist’s questioning bent, his seesaw of doubt and reassurance, capped off with the narrator’s gently satirical “not wholly disconcerted”. It’s also risky because the reader must immediately care about these characters. Was that what she did? Pretend it’s not happening, pretend you’re on that ship, the sea wind is in your hair, salt and cold, and you’re headed out to the white waves and only the gulls are screaming. She’d had the strap enough times; if he didn’t beat her with the buckle end, there’d be no harm done. Last night I dreamt I was with Lambert again. This is why other writers were afraid of Virginia Woolf. Wouldn’t she love to be away on that one right now. So many questions and all from just one sentence. A good cover may make us pick the book up and think about buying it. It’s a great little exercise to use when reading over your own manuscript. Use our opening line tool above to help inspire you to get started. “Someone must have slandered Josef K., because one morning, without his having done anything bad, he was arrested.” – Franz Kafka, The Trial. Strange how she couldn’t hear anything. Why not twice? Sure, the opening sentences are important in novels, too. “It should say: Listen. 41. Good story openings make us want more information. ‘Except one.’ What a great way to introduce an immortal main character. Kafka always started his stories at the very beginning, which is when Gregor changes into a cockroach. Wandering through the graveyard it felt like something was watching me. If I could change one thing, it would be hiring that lawyer. Are you in the mood for amusement? White She tried to raise her head from the straw, but it was too much effort. The key to winning people's trust will be revealed in this book. A weak first line and they might pass your story by. That’s how I usually see things. The first cardinal rule of opening lines is that they should possess most of the individual craft elements that make up the story as a whole. Charlotte’s We b by E.B. And of course we want to know what that advice is. And yes, Kafka’s first line of The Trial is a classic. A blank page can be very daunting. Pray for us sinners now and in the hour of our death. How Strong Opening Lines Set the Scene Mood is the atmosphere, or “vibe,” you’d like readers to feel when reading your book. The novel’s entire first paragraph is justly celebrated. And who were they asking for? So that was hope then. Whether you've planned the perfect story or are suffering from writers' block, you still need to write that first line. Introducing mood early in each chapter, often within its opening lines, can help captivate readers by immersing them in the atmosphere of your story (i.e. The standard opener, the one we all know is, "Once Upon A Time." Instantly, we’re there. Markus establishes voice, the unique nature of his narrator and tells you where this story is going. “I was twenty-nine years old when I died.” – A Vain and Indecent Woman, Colin Falconer, “The head had been impaled on a railing outside the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand in the early hours of a cold November morning. 13. The first lines of novels set the tone for the story to come. I guess that line still impresses me. “When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.” – John Wyndam, The Day of the Triffids. “It was now lunch time and they were all sitting under the double green fly of the dining tent pretending that nothing had happened.” – Ernest Hemingway, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. “Strether’s first question, when he reached the hotel, was about his friend, yet on his learning that Waymarsh was apparently not to arrive till evening he was not wholly disconcerted.”. That prologue was so dreary I almost gave up on the book that first time. That is, something to keep the reader interested and make him or her want to read more. You just have to know what he means and why the past is important to him. For me, the best first line ever written. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Don’t look up at him, don’t yell out, don’t provoke him. Your email address will not be published. Hard not to be hooked after that. Another unexpected and brilliant first line to a children’s novel. Not the way you’d think a children’s book would start. Here are the some of the best opening lines in dystopian literature. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. 20 powerful first lines to get you hooked on a story Great books have the power to captivate a reader from their very opening lines. The eyes in the painting follow him down the corridor. 33. “Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.” – Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 100 Years of Solitude. “Francis Marion Tarwater’s uncle had been dead for only half a day when the boy got too drunk to finish digging his grave and a Negro named Buford Munson, who had come to get a jug filled, had to finish it and drag the body from the breakfast table where it was still sitting and bury it in a decent and Christian way, with the sign of its Saviour at the head of the grave and enough dirt on top to keep the dogs from digging it up.”, Find ‘The Unkillable Kitty O’Kane’ for audio, kindle or paperback. I know that because this was one of the findings discovered by dating app Hinge when it conducted a month-long study, analyzing data from its users. 25. Couldn’t move her arms much, but her legs worked well enough, and she reckoned if she could get into the corner, she’d make a smaller target for him. 23. “There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie and Dim and we sat in the Korova milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening.” – Anthony Burgess, Clockwork Orange. No help for her there. Now, with every one of my own books, I spend a lot of time on the first line, the first paragraph, the first page. 4. In conclusion: yes, hook us on that first sentence, but don’t promise more than you can deliver. Call me Ishmael. You must include “None of them knew the color of the sky.” “I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice – not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother’s death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany.” – John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany. “Where’s Papa going with that axe?’ said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.” – E B White, Charlotte’s Web. 15. Barrie, Peter Pan. Georgia Toon is the only name you'll ever need to remember. These first lines are inspired by analysis of some classic openers. What sort of world are we in? And you believe him? Your opening should also have a ‘hook’. 10. 21. 11. Having that in mind, we've rounded up the first lines of some of the world's most famous books, and they stand as excellent examples of how a short sentence or two can set the tone for an entire story - and define its legacy for decades to come. Or at least, how I try. Astute observations accompanied by a implied sigh of disgust are tricky to master, but Chesterton, one of... 3. What I do know is that a mono or disyllabic opening lines like those listed above are highly unlikely to get a response. Good kicking boots. 2. Brilliant. For example, the opening to Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer-winning novel, Beloved (1987). WHAT WAS THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE FRENCH PRINCESS IN BRAVEHEART? “Oh God in heaven, what’s he done to you, Kitty?” her ma said and squatted down beside her. She tried to wriggle into the corner. The first English translation by the Muirs attempts to preserve Kafka’s trope: “Someone must have traduced Joseph K., for without having done anything wrong he was arrested one fine morning,”. Midnight Adina is the only name you'll ever need to remember. It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal. Seattle had been without sunshine for months. Come in here. Be careful, Liam, you’re not too little to get hit, boy, not in this family. “I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.”— Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle. “He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish.” – Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea. Think of something else and it will be over. “Of all the things that drive men to sea, the most common disaster, I’ve come to learn, is women.” – Charles Johnson, Middle Passage, 26. 89 years old and I've never eaten bananas. “It was love at first sight.” – Joseph Heller, Catch-22. A strong story opening immediately makes you want to know more. I even tore out the first three pages of one of my favorite novels –, “I was twenty-nine years old when I died.” –, “The head had been impaled on a railing outside the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand in the early hours of a cold November morning. And there was new straw on the floor today; Ma would be cross. Even people who have never read a Dickens novel know that first line. The details of the ‘double green fly’ and the hanging question: what just happened? “Now that’ll be teaching ya some respect!”. “It was a wrong number that started it, the telephone ringing three times in the dead of night, and the voice on the other end asking for someone he was not.” – Paul Auster, City of Glass. Good opening sentences introduce a novel’s themes. 34. This is why he got his reputation as an economical writer. No exposition. ‘124 was spiteful.’ Morrison’s opening gives … “It was the day my grandmother exploded.” – Iain M. Banks, The Crow Road. He was too drunk to aim properly, so that was a blessing then. The wood was buggy, and up close she could see the little brown bugs that were getting through the walls. Now her daddy was taking off his belt; Liam tried to hold on to his arm, and got a backhander for it. 100 Best First Lines from Novels. 1. And when the story becomes a classic, the first line can sometimes become as famous … A great opening line serves as the initial, horrifying bridge between our world and an author's dystopia - the line most vital to a dystopia's hold, growth, and impact on the reader's mind. We hope they encourage your own students to really push themselves the next time they start a story. You can’t possibly not read on to find out why. “You’d be a fookin’ little devil,” he yelled at her. —Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813) 3. “It’s a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Done what he always does, she thought. Above are two effective openings to gothic horror stories. Sorry. And with so many books to read, the competition between them is wast. Here are my 43 of the best in Literature: 1. It's ideal for novels, short stories and the opening line of dialogue in a movie or stage play. Already she couldn’t see a thing out of her left eye, but if she squinted with her other, she could see Liam shouting something at her daddy. Thankfully, I persisted. Dear reader, I wish I could tell you that I made it all up. An opening line should have a distinctive voice, a point of view, a rudimentary plot and some hint of characterization. Revisit the most memorable and gripping opening sentences of 100 essential books for youngsters - from pre-school to high-school - in the gallery below. 19. 5 GOOD REASONS TO USE A PSEUDONYM – AND 2 REALLY BAD ONES, ONE PRINCESS, TWO HUSBANDS – BY ORDER OF THE KING. Sean sat in the corner, a moldy blanket over his head, sobbing. Have adored this for decades. The strap was all right. The first sentence should not be a story’s best sentence. IT SURE IS SOME WEATHER Nobody gives a shit about the weather. It’d been a good hard punch, that took her down, and she hadn’t seen it coming. “Every summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his wife, Shuyu.” – Ha Jin, Waiting, 10. She couldn’t remember anything before he started banging on her, but answering back, that sounded like the kind of thing that she’d do. She could hear things again now, the horn from an ocean steamer leaving the docks. If a writer’s too busy trying to out-weird their own opening, then the story will suffer and become unreadable. Robert Graves establishing voice and telling us the story he’s going to tell us and all in one long, meandering but somehow compelling sentence. “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” – Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca. If you enjoyed it, get snippets just like it in your inbox every week! She felt the sea move beneath her, not got her sea legs yet, maybe going to be sick. This is a well-crafted piece that is best enjoyed when spoken: each word so carefully chosen and each line flowing into the next. We are primed. Also the opening sentence of The Dead is quite remarkable. Does your first sentence hook the reader?… “What if this young woman, who writes such bad poems, in competition with her husband, whose poems are equally bad, should stretch her remarkably long and well-made legs out before you, so that her skirt slips up to the tops of her stockings?” – Gilbert Sorrentino, Imaginative Qualities of Actual Things, 16. Now try planning your own story opening. She looked up at the wall, the little pictures of Jesus with his Sacred Heart and Mother Mary beside him, a little red lamp lighting them up. Perhaps he’d sent her deaf. “Death is only the beginning; afterward comes the hard part.” – Jed Rubenfeld, The Death Instinct. “Vaughan died yesterday in his last car-crash.” – J. G. Ballard, Crash. But somehow it works. 38. *** HERE IS A SMALL FACT *** You are going to die.” – Markus Zusak, The Book Thief. Here is … “I am a sick man… I am a spiteful man”. There’s nothing quite like setting the mood and atmosphere of your novel from the very first line. 9. The closer we got, the more it looked like a brooding monster – battered and bruised, but still menacing. The best opening to a crime novel since Donald Westlake. 24. “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.“ – George Orwell, 1984. 6. This opening line makes it clear that farce is in force. First to feature today is a poem entitled Resilience by Zoe Neirizi. She watched his big boots stamp away, he shoved her ma aside, little Liam was still screaming at him. Why not? “In the town, there were two mutes and they were always together.” – Carson McCullers, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. She wondered where they came from. “Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins.” – Vladimir Naboko v, Lolita. Traditionally told tales often start with a few words at the beginning that are designed to get listeners ready for a different kind of discourse: a long narrative that we don't suppose to be literally true, set in a kind of dreamtime that is apart from, but closely involved with, ordinary reality. 36. “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.” – Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis. Listen to the narrator. Her body jerked a bit; there was no controlling it. From this simple sentence the graveyard it felt like something was watching me to winning 's. Flowing into the corner, curled up like a brooding monster – and... She felt the sea move beneath her, not got her sea legs yet, maybe going to keep to! Follow him down the corridor s wrong Jin, Waiting, 10 reading! Story is going Prozess is composed entirely of puns of judicial phrases terms. Disgust are tricky to master, but don ’ t remember stage.! 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