Image Credit: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.
Writers are often advised, rightly so, to study renowned books with famous opening lines. The idea is to demonstrate an excellent opening line which will hook the reader with an intriguing premise, an interesting character and/or setting, and so the reader will read on to find out what happens.
Often the opening lines of Pride and Prejudice, 1984, and A Tale of Two Cities are used here. No prizes for guessing which is which below!
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”
“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.”
The last one has led to one of my favourite literary jokes. What papers did Charles Dickens write for? The Bicester Times, the Worcester Times. Always makes me smile.
Why Opening Lines Matter
The opening line in a story is crucial to encouraging readers to get to the end of the first paragraph, the end of the first page, the end of the first chapter etc. And for the short forms of fiction I love to read and write, that opening line does a lot of “heavy lifting”. I need that opening line to set the scene quickly.
Often in flash fiction, titles are not included in the word count. So you learn to use these to set the likely mood of story to come. The opening line would either confirm what someone thinks or will intrigue them enough to want to keep reading.
Two of my own favourite opening lines are:-
‘Dear Sarah, They say the perfect crime is where the criminal doesn’t get caught. Wrong. It’s where nobody realised a crime took place.’
This is from From Light to Dark and Back Again and is called Punish The Innocent. I’ve used the title to set up what I hope people will find is an intriguing premise. I then back it up with the opening line. I go on with the following two lines to make it more intriguing. My hope is people would want to find out what was the crime that took place the police clearly didn’t know about but my anonymous letter writer does.
From Tripping the Flash Fantastic, from my story Decisions, the opening line reads:-
‘He could watch the world end or jump on to the alien spaceship that encouraged visitors.’
Decisions is what I call an open title as it is open to interpretation but I hope that in itself provokes enough curiosity to see what the decision is in this case. The word alien in the first line shows this is a fantasy tale without me spelling it out. I’ve also set up a dilemma. What is my character going to do? Only one way to find out – read on. Job done then. We all know the character has to do something here.
Dilemmas, Questions, Dialogue, and Twists
It is common for dilemmas or questions to be used as opening lines because you know by the end of the story, the dilemma must be resolved in some way. For a question as an opening, it has to be answered in some way. Doesn’t necessarily need to be to the liking of the characters either but opening lines must be delivered on.
Writers unconsciously make a promise to a reader with their first lines. These lines indicate the writer is taking the reader on a journey to find out what happens. So something must happen else the reader will feel cheated. They won’t read work by that author again either. Once bitten, twice shy and all that.
And I want to deliver on my opening lines. I know what I am looking for in a story myself when I read those written by others so I make sure I deliver on my own opening lines.
For tales with a twist ending, when a reader looks back at the start of the story, they should be able to see something in the opening which makes that twist inevitable even if they don’t spot it first go. With crime stories of all lengths, I have great fun trying to guess who the killer is, say.
Sometimes I guess correctly but not always. I enjoy it when I am wrong-footed here. I go back through the story and look for the clues I missed first go. They will be there. I have learned a great deal from doing this and can apply it to my own writing.
Likewise, as mentioned above, studying opening lines which grip me and working out why they do is also helpful. Knowing what you yourself like in an opening can help you work out how to achieve it. I like to see a character and at least hints of the situation which has to be resolved.
I am fond of stories which start with dialogue. It is a bit like eavesdropping on a conversation. It is natural to want to know how that ends, yes? Same applies here and writers can make use of that.
Lines Matter Elsewhere
It isn’t just writers who have to worry about getting their lines right. Actors do too, of course, and I am in awe of The Chameleon Theatre Group actors who have to learn so much in what is a relatively short period of time. I am looking forward to seeing Wyrd Sisters, the Terry Pratchett Discworld play, they are staging in October. I have no idea how long they need to rehearse to get their lines right. I do know it wouldn’t be as long as I would need!
The Chameleons have staged plays, including the recent Lilies on the Land, the play about the Land Army girls, where there is a lot of dialogue. So much to learn then. I suspect this may well be one of the joys of pantomime from the actors’ viewpoint – nobody is going to mind adlibs. Indeed, the audience expects them! The job of prompter shouldn’t be underestimated either.
Conclusion
The perfect opening line will fall flat if the story is not backed up by a character who intrigues. The reader has to want to find out what happens to that character. For me, all stories pivot on whether or not I care for the character. If I do, I read on. If not, enough said!
If the opening line is great but all else isn’t, readers will go to another story instead. I do (and have, thankfully rarely). I will get my stories down, rest them, and then edit them later. If when I come back to the story, the opening line grips me, great.
But often I will think of a way to strengthen it which would not have occurred to me while I was busy creating the story. You do need to detach yourself so you can see what works, what could be improved and so on. But I find I need to get that story down first and see the editing as a separate creative task to be done later. Only then can I see if I’ve got a good opening line or not.
I must admit though it is a joy to read splendid opening lines. They set you up for the promise of a great read to come. It is very rare I’m disappointed here. And that is how it should be. The opening line has done its job.
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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