Tip
Great opening lines matter for short stories – arguably more than they do for novels, though wouldn’t it be great if all novels opened with a fantastic hook? The opening line is your chance to reel the reader in, and instantly make them want to read on. What sort of line can do this? It could be:
- Surprising – be that the language, the image, a clash of ideas, an unexpected statement
- Shocking – a taboo has been broken right there, in the first sentence
- Intriguing – a mysterious, teasing statement will make a reader need to read on, to decode it
- Vocally arresting – let your character seduce your reader with an original, charismatic voice
- Funny – make a reader laugh and they will stick with you
Here are a few of my favourite opening lines, by way of illustration:
‘At the outset Verna had not intended to kill anyone.’ (Margaret Atwood, ‘Stone Mattress’)
‘I cut my boyfriend in half; it was what we both wanted.’ (Angela Readman, ‘Don’t Try This at Home’)
‘Later, when I knew her better, Manda told me how she’d beaten two girls at once outside the Cranemakers Arms in Carlisle.’ (Sarah Hall, ‘Butcher’s Perfume’)
‘It starts with a bee sting.’ (Kij Johnson, ‘At the Mouth of the River of Bees’)
‘I might as well confess up front that I am in league with the Devil.’ (Edward Docx, The Calligrapher)
‘On my naming day when I come 12 I gont front spear and kilt a wyld boar he parbly ben the las wyld pig on the Bundel Downs any how there hadnt ben none for a long time befor him nor I aint looking to see none agen.’ (Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker)
Exercise
For each opening line above, take a moment and think about what it is that makes you want to read on (if indeed it does!). Note down what you think the author is up to. Think about:
How much can you guess about what will happen in this story?
How well does the opening line interact with the title of the piece (if at all)?
What question does the opening line pose, that the reader wants answered by the story?
How much does it tell you, or imply, about the main character, and the kind of person they are?
What is your emotional response to the line?
Then, if you have access to books (novels or short stories), open up a few and look at their opening lines. What works for you, as a reader? What doesn’t?
The joy of practising writing opening lines is that you can do loads of them, and you don’t have to write the rest of the story. Come up with ten opening lines, being as silly, outrageous, shocking, or wild as you like. What can you imply about this imaginary story? How can you hook the reader? If your imagination falters, try looking at images (book cover illustrations will do) to prompt an implied story.
Bonus material: for an amusing look at how not to write opening lines, check out the Bulwer Lytton Prize for bad writing, and see if you can write your own atrocious opener.
This tip is from Zoe Gilbert, who teaches our online courses, Folk Tales in New Fiction and Summer Seminars: Fantastic Literature.