In a new blog post, Ruth Harris offers advice for writing a great first sentence, with examples. “Your first sentence is your opportunity to let your creativity shine,” she says. “Whether you decide to go for a tease or a jolt, a theme or a rule breaker, a first person or third person introduction, remember what Mom always said: You never have a second chance to make a first impression.”
There are a lot of ways to open a story. Importantly, your first sentence should set the promise you intend to keep to your reader. “If you’ve written a thriller, your first sentence must promise thrills,” Harris says. “If you’ve written a romance, your first sentence must promise romance.”
She suggests a number of ways to open:
- A tease
- A shock
- An invitation
- A seduction
- A promise
Depending on your genre, you might consider opening by:
- Creating danger
- Laying out your character’s inner struggles
- Invoking deep emotion
- Introducing suspense
- Defining — or hinting at — the mystery
- Initiating the quest
- Establishing the mood
Harris shares some examples of powerful opening lines:
“On the morning the last Lisbon daughter took her turn at suicide—it was Mary this time, and sleeping pills—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.” – Jeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides
“All children, except one, grow up.” – J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.” – William Gibson, Neuromancer
“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York.” – Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” – Daphne DuMaurier, Rebecca
“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.” – Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
