“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. 89 years old and I've never eaten bananas. So I suppose you want to ask me what happened to my tail. She heard the slap of the belt, realized he must still be hitting her. “In the town, there were two mutes and they were always together.” – Carson McCullers, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. “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.”, 18. 14. Why not? Call me Ishmael. 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. transporting them to another place and time). Your email address will not be published. These first lines are inspired by analysis of some classic openers. And of course we want to know what that advice is. A good cover may make us pick the book up and think about buying it. “Opening lines, like first impressions, ... Story continues below advertisement “Even if the person is in a bathing suit, avoid any opening line that mentions their body parts. You must include “None of them knew the color of the sky.” Your email address will not be published. The Writer's First Line Generator will create an intriguing opening for your novel or short story. Does your first sentence hook the reader?… Just bear it, Kit. 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,”. There’s the hero, the problem and the goal in the first sentence. 28. It establishes the entire theme of the masculine/feminine dynamic which defines the story. 30. 23. “Every summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his wife, Shuyu.” – Ha Jin, Waiting, 10. Random First Line Prompts The aim of these writing prompts is to spark off a short story. Done what he always does, she thought. That’s how I usually see things. 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. “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.” – Flannery O’Connor, The Violent Bear it Away. “I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.”— Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle. She started crawling again, inched herself further into the corner, curled up like a bug tossed in a fire. “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. The opening of a story should normally tell the reader: Where and when the story is set Who the characters are The style and mood of the story Don’t forget! If you enjoyed it, get snippets just like it in your inbox every week! “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. First Lines The first line of a short story is very important, a good one can hook the reader and make them want to read on. “I am a sick man… I am a spiteful man”. “It should say: Listen. “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.”. The first sentence should not be a story’s best sentence. Dear reader, I wish I could tell you that I made it all up. Many great novels … “It’s a funny thing about mothers and fathers. “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” – Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca. Use our opening line tool above to help inspire you to get started. And who were they asking for? 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. Remember to put me in your safe senders list! 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. But still menacing of my life, fire of my loins. ” – Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca when..., Pride and Prejudice ( 1813 ) 3 man ” not only his characters but new! At all, if it ’ d mix in water 're entering story. Busy trying to out-weird their own opening paragraph that was a pleasure to burn. `` we give the! 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