Friday Speak Out!: Memorable First Lines

by June Trop

Horns were honking at my double-parked car, my two-year-old was pulling at my skirt, and the bookstore was overheated while I was standing in the aisle desperate to find a book for next week’s train trip. How fast could I pick something? Aside from glancing at the covers, I had enough time to read only the first few lines before making my decision.

Far-fetched you think? Well, maybe, but the fact is most people choose a book within the first few minutes of opening it. So, an author’s first line had better intrigue the reader.

Remember these classic first lines: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” (A Tale of Two Cities), “Call me Ishmael” (Moby Dick), and “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” (Anna Karenina)?

And how about these modern examples: “When I was little, I would think of ways to kill my daddy” (Kaye Gibbons’s Ellen Foster) and “The horror was in the waiting—the unknown, the insomnia, the ulcers” (John Grisham’s Gray Mountain)? Here are the lines I used to start my own novel, The Deadliest Thief: “I stood there as if I’d been punched in the chest. The knocking was so frantic that I bolted of my study, tore across the atrium to the entrance of our townhouse, and opened the door.”

I’ve been collecting impressive first lines for years. I write each one on an index card with the title and author and then sort the cards into categories. Is this starter magical, ironic, scary, or humorous? Does it express a feeling I’ve had, perhaps a shameful or fearful one? In other words, what makes that starter riveting? Is that first line an imaginative description of the setting, a narration in which the reader learns about a problem, or the hint of conflict embedded in a piece of dialogue? Categorize enough of them and you’ll get a sense of what kinds of starters work for you as a reader as well as a writer.

Okay. So, you’re not about to write a novel or start a collection of first lines, but still, paying attention to them might help you figure out what you’re looking for when that adorable two-year old is pulling on your skirt and the parking enforcer is about to ticket your car. How would you characterize the first lines of The Deadliest Thief? What kind of novel would you then expect?

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June Trop is the author of the Miriam bat Isaac Mystery Series set in first-century CE Roman-occupied Alexandria. Her books have been cited for excellence at the New York Book Festival, by Wiki Ezvid, the Historical Novel Society, and as a 5-star Readers’ Favorite. Kirkus praised The Deadliest Thief for its “vibrant imagery and an entertaining plot ending with a most unexpected twist.”

As an award-winning middle school science teacher, June used storytelling to capture her students’ imagination and interest in scientific concepts. Years later as a professor of teacher education, she focused her research on the practical knowledge teachers construct and communicate through storytelling.

June, an active member of the Mystery Writers of America, lives with her husband Paul Zuckerman in New Paltz, NY where she is breathlessly recording her plucky heroine's next life-or-death exploit.

Connect with June on her website www.JuneTrop.com or her Facebook page: June Trop Author.


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Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!
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5 comments Friday Speak Out, June Trop, novel writing, the first line

Getting Down the First Line

One of the toughest writing obstacles I once faced was getting down the first line.

It didn’t matter if it was a 300-word blog post or the beginning of what I hoped to be a 30,000-word novel, I struggled with the opening, with how to get the words started. And then one day, in a fit of frustration, I gave up. And in the process, beat my first line demons. And I’m going to share what I did (and continue to do), because I so often hear writers complain about staring at the blank page, not knowing how or where to begin.

Are you ready to get your mind blown? Stand back, now. Here goes: Just start writing.

I know it sounds simple, and you’re sitting there, reading that little tip and wanting to smack me. But it really is that simple. Write. Write anything you can think of related to what you want to say—and worry about the beginning when you’re done.

That’s not to say that I don’t have the occasional Eureka! moment when my brain comes up with a massively brilliant beginning. But usually, my first line is just something I throw out there, something to get the words flowing because I hate wasting time. So, I pick a starting point and go from there. When I’ve finished, I’ll go back and edit.

And here’s my first-line, mind-blowing bit, Part II. More often than not, I only have to tweak the first line or the beginning so that it bookends with my ending. Honestly. It’s rare that I dump the entire opening paragraph (although I do occasionally start a story at the wrong beginning, but that’s a post for another day).

I’m not a writing psychologist, but I have a theory. Once I’ve taken the pressure off, given myself permission to write an imperfect first line, my brain relaxes, and I end up writing a pretty decent beginning sentence.

It works for me. It can work for you. So no more excuses. If you’ve got a wonderful idea for a novel, a short story, an article, a blog post, even a picture book, just start writing. A terrific first line will come—sooner or later.

~Cathy C. Hall

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10 comments Cathy C. Hall, the first line, writing craft, writing tip