The Perfect Opening Line

You're always told not to judge a book by its cover. But how many times have you judged one by its opening line?

Though now I barely have enough patience to wait for my next read to download to my Kindle, when I was younger, I had enough time to actually meander through my home away from home (aka Barnes and Noble). I'd go in there after having done exactly zero research on what I wanted to read next, instead grabbing books whose titles caught my eye and basing my decision off their summaries—and then—their opening lines.

Opening lines are your hook.
Which is more intriguing to you? "Clouds drifted across the sky on the bright sunny day," or "For years, the sky had been nothing but a pitch blackness, suffocating the world in an endless night. But now the sun blared across the grassy fields in an orange warmth I no longer recognized."

Your first lines should instantly entice the reader. They should not only question what is going on, but they should feel a pull, an obligation, to keep going; as if they have absolutely no choice but to read on to figure it out.

Your opening line is that hook that latches onto your reader and reels them in. It grabs their attention. It sparks their interest. And potentially makes them fall in love at first sight. And it gives them a very subtle glimpse at what they're getting themselves into.

Opening lines should set the stage for the rest of your novel.
We as humans judge. It is what we do. Sometimes we don't mean to, but we can't help it. I don't necessarily mean this in a bad way. But the moment we meet someone new, our brains are actively taking the bits and pieces of information that presents itself to us and forming an opinion on this foreign person.

Now imagine yourself meeting someone knew. You're told you have to form an opinion on this person and decide only upon first glance if you'd like to go to hang out with them for a while. This is difficult to do in and of itself, but imagine that the person set before you is wearing a full body suit. Everything is covered. Including their face.

Maybe you can assume this person is a man or woman. Maybe—maybe—you would be able to estimate their age. But beyond that, you wouldn't have much else to go on. You wouldn't be able to see whether there is a twinkle or an evil glint in their eye. You wouldn't know if there were freckles on their face; their favorite clothes to wear. Maybe it's a man wearing lipstick. Or a young woman who had a few growth spurts before puberty. If I were you, I would give up, and move onto the person beside them, whose face and clothing is fully exposed.

Books work very much the same way. It's difficult to form an opinion on something that gives very limited information up front. Make sure that even the very first line is unique to YOUR novel. That its voice reflects that of the rest of the work. It should be a line that no other novel in this genre or age range would be able to use. Set the stage for the rest of the book. Give the reader a glimpse into what they're about to get themselves into and give them a really good idea of the voice that they could potentially be spending a lot of time with. It will be much easier for them to then decide if they want to keep reading, or they'll pass to the next book on the shelf with a much stronger opening line.

Proof is in the pudding.
When I was revising the first draft of my novel, I first read through a ton of different blog posts and websites and dove into my own collection of novels searching for books in my genre with really stellar opening lines. I read through so many, finding some I liked, and others I didn't. Once I narrowed it down, I thought about what it was about these lines that I loved and why it would make me (or did make me) read on.

Some were short, quick sentences. Others were detailed run ons. But each one that I was drawn to shared the two same points that I made above. They drew me in with a unique hook, and they hinted at the overall themes of the book, allowing me to form an opinion

Studying published works is one of the best ways, if not THE best way, to improve your own writing. They were successful for a reason.

Below are some of my favorite opening lines that utilize these two points quite well, in my opinion, and ultimately made me read on!

"When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman, and a ride home." –The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton

"Grace Somerfield was the first to die." –The Darkest Minds, Alexandra Bracken

"It has been sixty-four years since the president and the Consortium identified love as a disease, and forty-three since the scientists perfected a cure." –Delirium, Lauren Oliver

"When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim's warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with my mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping." –The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

"The last class of my old professor's life took place once a week in his house, by a window in the study where he could watch a small hibiscus plant shed its pink leaves." –Tuesdays With Morrie, Mitch Albom

"There is one mirror in my house. It is behind a sliding panel in the hallway upstairs. Our faction allows me to stand in front of it on the second day of every third month, the day my mother cuts my hair." –Divergent, Veronica Roth

"I'm a traitor to my generation. Seriously. All we hear about these days is being strong women and standing up for ourselves, and now look what I've done." –Two-Way Street, Lauren Barnholdt

"They say that just before you die your whole life flashes before your eyes, but that's not how it happened for me." –Before I Fall, Lauren Oliver


You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.
In my opinion, you should spend a large chunk of time making the first lines of your novel absolutely perfect. Explore the themes of your book. Write different versions. Think about what would entice you as a reader to read on. Get second and third and fourth opinions. And then nail it, and watch your future readers eagerly scan the rest of the page and hurry through the rest of the book without a second thought.