How to Write a Great First Line of a Story [3 Top Tips]

What do all great opening lines have in common? In this video, Martin speaks with editor Rebecca Heyman (of First Line Frenzy fame) about her 3 rules for starting your story.

CHAPTERS
00:00 A dark and stormy night...
00:35 Cracking the opening
01:24 Tips for writing a great first line
03:38 Breaking down the opening of "Nineteen Eighty-Four"
06:14 About the Reedsy marketplace

FIND REEDSY HERE:

FIND REBECCA HEYMAN

RESOURCES:

[ZZZ-kt]

Pride and Prejudice: 'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife'. === Also, Martin- amazing video. Honestly, started looking forward to these.

[nancythompson]

1st line from my latest release: It's shocking how heavy a man's head feels once severed from its body.

[clairecayson]

Rebecca and martin this aspect of writing is the most difficult start of c your unknown journey of your story I can't express my gratitude for such an important of all beginners and carry through to the ending like bread crumbs bless both of you keep me in the loop always abd blessings to you both so very great

[IoanaLHub]

Great video, can't wait for the next one!

[alexkindberg]

I was thinking of starting my book with something like this: 'Mr. World crossed his long leg over the other in his chair and met the 21 expectant gazes pointed at him with a stern expression, portraying the seriousness of the situation but unable to keep a glimpse of amusement out of his eyes. "It seems we have a war to fight."'

[dastangalali]

The opening of 'A Tale of Two Cities, ' is my favorite, "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, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

[dragonstooth]

My first line is "I'm not losing to a girl. Again."

Apparently this is a hugely controversial line lol

[bettymreeves]

In his landmark bestseller, “The Road Less Traveled, ” written over 25 years ago, author, M. Scott Peck, MD. begins with, “”Life is difficult."

[rlmiller]

I live in Seattle. The "bright cold day in April" is normal. LOL

[oracleofaltoona]

Thank you excellent advice and great example.

[luisrods]

The Vampire Lestat (Anne Rice, 1985): "I am the vampire Lestat. I am immortal. More or less. The light of the sun, the sustained heat of an intense fire -- these things might destroy me. But then again, they might not."

[suhanbangera]

When I was a kid, I had a dream that I would stand atop the peak of the world, looking the empire that I had amassed. Now when I am here, all I see is that it was all for nothing.

[Autodidactz]

Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities: 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 epic 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, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way — in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of it's noisiest authorities insisted on being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

[johnhansen]

Just what I needed! Thanks. PS. Living in a country where 1 pm is normally called 13 means that 1984 opening doesn’t have quite the same impact😀

[williamhalsted]

Swallows and Amazons: "Roger, aged seven, and no longer the youngest of the family, ran in wide zigzags, to and fro, across the steep field that sloped up from the lake to Holly Howe, the farm where they were staying for part of the summer holidays. He ran until he nearly reached the hedge by the footpath, then turned and ran until he nearly reached the hedge on the other side of the field. Then he turned and crossed the field again. Each crossing of the field brought him nearer to the farm. The wind was against him, and he was tacking up against it to the farm, where at the gate his patient mother was awaiting him. He could not run straight against the wind because he was a sailing vessel, a tea-clipper, the Cutty Sark. His elder brother John had said only that morning that steamships were just engines in tin boxes. Sail was the thing, and so, though it took rather longer, Roger made his way up the field in broad tacks."

[titobari]

My first sentence is: Everything was a lie... Well, is really a short paragraph, but that is the beginning.

[Fuliginosus]

I've been criticized for starting a first line with 'It.'

[tomlewis]

This is confusing, because what you're talking about is not 'how to write a great first line'. What you're talking about is what a writer should do as early as possible in their novel. That's a completely different thing, and it's a difference with a distinction. If you can't make that distinction clearly in your mind, you very likely will never be able to write well.

Those three things are indeed very good advice. But they do not have to happen in the very first line. Your novel will not be damaged beyond repair if you don't do those things in the first line. They really should happen as early as possible, hopefully early in the first hundred words or so, and they should also be of a strategy that can begin to bond the protagonist to the reader.

The first line has a completely different purpose, which is to hook the reader enough so that they will read the next three paragraphs and hopefully then know enough about the story to want to continue. What makes a first line 'great' is its ability to invoke curiosity and wonder.

It can also do double duty. It can start the path toward those three things at the same time that it grabs the reader's attention.

A 'clock striking 13' actually seems pretty hokey and cheeseball in 2024. It's not 1949 anymore.

Here are some of my favorites, all of which I think are light years better:

'The skidmarks will nearly be gone. They're fainter every year.'

'Something funny's going on.'

'I racked the slide. Chambered a round.'

'I'd love to catch a couple more winks, but Bogart keeps licking my face.'

[peterkurtson]

All of this advice is garbage. No one here wrote a bestseller. Not a good opening at all.