I am the ficklest of readers. It's possible to bore me on the first line of your book. I'm not the only one. There are scores of people who don't even like reading. Your task, if you choose to accept it, is to make them care. Make them want to read. Make them fall in love with your characters. When your protagonist dies at the end, they better cry their little reader eyes out.

But how do you get the fickle modern reader to do that?

It all starts with your first sentence.



To get an idea of what we're doing, let's look at some famous first sentences and what they accomplish (or don't).


1.Say What?
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. —George Orwell, 1984 (1949)

An interesting trick to employ is to confuse your reader or really leave them wondering what the heck you're talking about on the first line. Out of curiosity, they're forced to read on to discover your wonderful novel.


2. O Subject!
Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. —Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (1955)

You can also introduce your subject immediately. This lets the reader know what he'll be reading about. Your speaker should be interested enough in it to make the subject interesting to the reader, like Humbert is with Lolita.


3. An Explanation Follows
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. —Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (1877; trans. Constance Garnett)

This starts with a generalization. The reader will continue in want of clarity. This type does not aim to confuse, but it aims to set the stage for the following story and provide something for the reader to keep in mind throughout.


4. Hello World!
Call me Ishmael. —Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (1851)

You can also have your narrator introduce him or herself. However, be careful with this method. It can easily be trite. Done right, though, it can begin an amazing novel as it helps the reader identify with the narrator from the start.


5. Tone
The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new. —Samuel Beckett, Murphy (1938)

Many authors are famous for the tone they use. You could be one of them some day. Almost every novel has its primary tone from the start, so try to pick one and stick to it unless you have a valid reason not otherwise.


6. The True Introduction
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. —Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859)

Literature's most famous comma splices. This first sentence brings into play everything the reader is to expect: the dualities of life and how they play out in the story. It starts with symbolism and tone, and slowly brings the reader into the story.


7. Short and Sweet
Mother died today. —Albert Camus, The Stranger

Don't be afraid to start with something simple in construction. You don't need thirty clauses to evoke emotion and interest. Camus used three.


8. Motion and Action
A screaming comes across the sky. —Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow (1973)

If you hook your fishing line into something and start pulling, whatever you're pulling (if it's small enough) will get dragged to you. This is physics. Well, let's apply some physics to writing. If something is already happening, your reader will put up much less of a fight to be reeled in than they would with a boring chunk of narration.

Try to avoid the opposite: starting with stagnance. I've seen all too many begining writers start their stories where the protagonist is staring at the ground, is bored stiff, or otherwise not moving or thinking anything of consequence. Thus, as a reader, I assume that's what the rest of the story's going to be about. Not much.


9. Keep it simple, Silly
It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the house-tops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness. —Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford (1830)

This first line is famous for a reason. It's absolutely, unconditionally dreadful. It rambles on and on, but it doesn't make me care. It's too wordy without enough substance to back it up. About all it does is to introduce a setting, but barely. Sure, it starts with tone, but not an exceptionally good one. Shoot for being exceptional.
Don't ramble. Don't go into the minutiae of your world before anything has happened. Don't over explain thing. Assume your reader is intelligent. A little background is sufficient. A little.


But don't worry about it too much. If it doesn't come out perfect on the first draft, you can fix it later. Don't get stuck on the first sentence before you have a story.