How to Write a Strong Novel Opening | Writing Tips

Novel openings, first chapters, first lines, and flirting--let's go!

OUTRO MUSIC: "l u v t e a [acoustic]" by Autumn Keys

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[philipclayberg]

"I don't like mirrors. I always see unpleasant faces in them. But this morning was different: there were no faces in the bathroom mirror. Not even my own."

[IloveItachiandGaaru]

how to start a novel; make the first line be "Hey everyone, it's Shaelin" and you're secured for life
<3

[jarettazares]

Ray Bradbury's opening to Fahrenheit 451 always inspires me to start a story. It's simple but the profoundness of it rings true throughout the story:

"It was a pleasure to burn."

[slugfly]

Opening line of Fleur by Louis Erdrich: "The first time she drowned in the cold and glassy waters of Lake Turcot, Fleur Pillager was only a girl."

[isabelbard]

Oh dang, I'm terrible at flirting IRL. I'll work on that for my book. Lol

[TheCherrypop]

‘the snow in the mountains was melting and bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation.’
- the secret history

donna tartt can write first lines like no other! she’s incredible.

[firelordkushroll]

3:15 reminds me of The office when Robert California had just asked Erin to describe her day, but when she said " I woke up" he stops her to reply with " Never tell people you woke up. That is how everyone's day has began since the dawn of man". lmao. of course her ditsy response of "okay, suddenly I was awake", is so funny.

[xtonibx]

"It was a pleasure to burn.
It was a pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history."
-Ray Bradbury (Farenheit 451)

my brother had this book for a school assignment and i carelessly opened up the first page not expecting to care much about it, but this opening really grabbed me and i think about it a lot. when i learned what the character was doing, i stole the book and read it all. i fell in love with ray bradbury quite quickly.

[Nephiram]

Also Red Sister, by Mark Lawrence: "It is important, when killing a nun, to bring an army of sufficient size".
So cool. Its just an awesome opening that immediately lets us know what kind of badasses, our heroines are going to become.

[crowtalker]

“the early summer sky was the colour of cat vomit.” - uglies by scott westerfeld.

i read the uglies series when i was 12/13 — it was my intro to teen dystopian fiction (this would have been 2014, when that genre was peaking), but it was so immersive and wonderful to me at the time. i think it made me realize what writing could be, and how it could make me feel. i was hooked from the first line; it certainly paints a clear picture in my head and i can distinctly remember it years later.

[robinwang]

another good opening:

“It was a bright cold day in april, and the clocks were striking thirteen” —1984

[bonelessbooks]

How is this for an opening?

"Most people grow out of their imaginary friend phase pretty early on in life. Those that don't are diagnosed. Not me."

[Fape]

I've just started reading B. Sanderson's book "Mistborn - The Final Empire". And just look at this awesome, intriguing first sentence: "Sometimes, I worry that I’m not the hero everyone thinks I am."

[danielmunoz]

"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."

That's (in my honest opinion) one of the best first lines of all time...

[giovanniferesin]

I went back to read my favourite novel's first chapter, "The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt, because I thought it was very similar to that of "The Girls". (At least in the concept)

The position of the chapter in the timeline is basically at the end, we learn that Theo, the protagonist, is in Amsterdam(we don't know why) and something has went very wrong (we don't know what but we can guess it has to do with murder).
Now, I believe this is very important because the Goldfinch is a THICC book (800+ pages) and it narrates the life of Theo from adolescence to neo-adulthood, so the reader needs to have questions as soon as possible to not drop the book. So, what the chapter does is changing the reader's questions to the book. It will not be "what is going to happen?", but "How is this going to happen?".

The chapter, and the book at large, obviously provide other elements: the relationship that he has with his dead mother, the inciting incident and the little painting that gives the name to the novel have all been introduced by the first 50 pages, but i really like the first chapter because I believe that it is essential to long books.

It is basically the writer telling you: "Ok, this is point G of the story, see how everything is fucked up? Alright, now let's go back to point A and let's see how things got like this."
It is not the end that matters, but the journey.

I could also make a similar point for "The Name Of The Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss, but in that book it is more about the structutr of the book than the first chapter.

(My apologies if the comment seems a bit clunky, english ain't my language and in here it's 11:00 pm)

[wonderlust]

OH MY GOD! You’re just coming out with everything I NEED!! Thank you girl!

[cwfcwfcwf]

I have always wanted to start a novel with "Once upon a time." My problem is, I have never written a novel where that line would be appropriate. :)

[zerujah]

12:56 Look at the books in the background! 🤣🤣🤣

[Kasiarzynka]

"Later, it was said the man came from the north, from Ropers Gate." - the first line of Andrzej Sapkowski's short story "The Witcher", which is basically the first one that the reader gets to read.

[celinaastbury]

12:57 lmao books in the back fall over