TIPS FOR WRITING THE FIRST SENTENCE OF YOUR NOVEL OR STORY

Can you think if an interesting first line for this picture? 

The First Impression

Hello,

Welcome to my blog. Today, I want to explore how to start a story. The first line must grab the reader's attention whether it is a novel, a chapter or a short story. 

 Writers must make a positive impression within a few seconds. First lines and first paragraphs sell books. I have listed some examples from successful books below. 

When you aren't sure if you're making a good start, ask yourself the questions below. It only takes a yes to one of these to kick off your story the right way. 

1. Did I begin with a problem or situation that will change the protagonist's life? 

2. Did I create curiosity about what will happen next? 

3. Did I write a sentence that makes the reader ask who, what, how, when, or why? 

 Draw them in with a great paragraph and keep them turning the pages. Start with a day that changed everything for your main character, but don't take all year to get to the action. For example, don't write about a woman leaving her car, entering a building, climbing stairs to murder someone. Cut all that and start where the action begins.  For example, maybe she is a new assassin and it's her first day on the job. She's at a party, flirting with the man she kills. Afterward, she calls her boss and tells him the job is done. 

Beginnings don't have to be that dramatic to work. It depends on the genre. Let's look at good examples. I’ll use lines from some of my favorite books. I can point out why the opening works well. I have bolded the first line of the books and listed the author and title under them.

My mother did not tell me they were coming.

Tracy Chevalier, Girl with a Pearl Earring

Her first line works because questions form in the reader’s mind. Who are they and why didn’t her mother tell her? What secret did her mother hide? Something was about to happen, and the next lines explained it further.

There are still the flowers to buy.

Michael Cunningham, The Hours

When I read this, I was curious about why it was important to buy flowers. Occasions such as date night, funerals, and holidays came to mind. The sentence prompted me to read more to find out why. 

With a bag in each hand, I paused for a moment outside the van, staring at her. 

John Green, Paper Towns

Who was this person staring at and why? Why did he pause outside the van? What were they doing?

I rode down from the high blue hills and across the brush flats into Hattan’s Point, a raw bit of spawning hell scattered hit or miss along the rocky slope of a rust-topped mesa.

Louis L’Amour, Silver Canyon

His character travels somewhere, and he gives a setting which includes a raw bit of spawning hell. Vivid descriptions build interest. Why did he think it was hellish?

This is a story about a man named Eddie, and it begins at the end, with Eddie dying in the sun.

Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Curiosity about Eddie's impending death kept me reading. Why was he dying in the sun? 

They said a child had died in the attic.

Anne Rice, The Vampire Armand

A morbid beginning gets the novel rolling full speed. Children don’t die in attics every day. Did someone murder the child? 

Pain thundered through her head. 

Lisa Jackson, The Night Before

What happened to her? Did someone beat her? Or is she ill? What makes her head hurt? Did she binge on alcohol or perhaps someone shot her, and she's still alive. 

So in order to understand everything that happened, you have to start from the premise that high school sucks.

Jesse Andrews, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

The first line gives us the impression a teenager had a bad day or maybe a horrible year. I wanted to read more to find out why. 

My father and mother should have stayed in New York where they met and married and where I was born.

Frank McCourt,  Angela’s Ashes

The reader questions why when the first line insinuates something less than desirable later happens.

These were grim days for former operatives of the Jamahiriya Security Organization, the dreaded national intelligence service of Libya under Moammar Gaddafi.

Tom Clancy, Threat Vector

Reading about grim days is interesting. His sentence tells who is involved and the question of why pops into the reader’s head.

When Cava Colon from the Prison Coalition asks me one January day in 1982 to become a pen pal to a death-row inmate, I say, sure.

Sister Helen Prejean, Dead Man Walking

A nun writing a prisoner garners interest. In her opening sentence, she establishes the date and that the inmate sits on death-row. What will they talk about? Will he confess his sins to a nun?

I remember that the last completely normal day we ever had in our lives, my brothers and I, was an ordinary day much like this one, a muggy August-into-September weekday, the sky low and gray over Langhorne, clouds as flat as an old comforter hanging between the two slight ridges that edged the town.

Anna Quindlen, One True Thing

Whew! I can’t read that long sentence in one breath, but she alludes something terrible happens. She successfully gives a setting and sets the mood of what normal was to her protagonist. I don't recommend writing long sentences. Some publishers might prefer brevity, but the long sentence worked for Anna Quindlen. 

Ruth remembered drowning.

Christina Schwarz, Drowning Ruth

How is that possible? Is she dead? Is she a ghost coming back for revenge? Or maybe she had a near death experience. 

I sent one boy to the gaschamber at Huntsville.

Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men

The first line reinforces the title of the book. It’s a rough place. And gas chamber is spelled as one word in his book, so it’s not a typo. 

Take a look at your favorite books and discover what made you read more. You'll find the answer on the first page. Then when you write the first line of your novel, chapter, memoir, or short story, make sure you write something that begs for answers. 

 If you have a tip for writing an effective first line, leave it in the comments. As always, this blog is here to help other writers.  If you have a favorite opening line you have written or from someone else's book, leave it below. Thank you for stopping by.