The first line

[Guardian 452]

You're probably right, but I had to add that one.  I've hooked three readers on Dresden with that line!

Keith

[13x13]

Thinking of one of these for the opening line for my book

I really regret not running over the lawyer when I had a chance.

Beware of lawyers bearing inheritances.

[seradhe]

Thinking of one of these for the opening line for my book

I really regret not running over the lawyer when I had a chance.

Beware of lawyers bearing inheritances.

I love the first one for the comedy of it. though the second gives us a nice foreshadowing into the rest of your story

[Shep]

First lines can be great attention grabbers.

Unfortunately, I personally suck at writing them.

[Quantus]

It may not be for everyone, but I sometimes enjoy the books that start with a few lines of verse (song/poem), excerpt of imaginary quotes from some character, etc.  Sometimes it can set the mood of the world without having to leap right into the action or characters. 

What I hate are series' such as Wheel of Time (loved the books but hated the openings)  that start the same every time "the wheel turns and ages come and go and this wasn't the beginning but it was a beginning and I think ill just skip the first paragraph.

[Shecky]

It may not be for everyone, but I sometimes enjoy the books that start with a few lines of verse (song/poem), excerpt of imaginary quotes from some character, etc.  Sometimes it can set the mood of the world without having to leap right into the action or characters. 

What I hate are series' such as Wheel of Time (loved the books but hated the openings)  that start the same every time "the wheel turns and ages come and go and this wasn't the beginning but it was a beginning and I think ill just skip the first paragraph.

But the WoT books always start with a quote, a verse or a prologue, well before "The Wheel of Time turns..."
*scratches head*

[Quantus]

But the WoT books always start with a quote, a verse or a prologue, well before "The Wheel of Time turns..."
*scratches head*

True true, and I read every long winded word of those books, loving every minute.  But that opening bit got real old real quick for me *shrugs*

[Shecky]

True true, and I read every long winded word of those books, loving every minute.  But that opening bit got real old real quick for me *shrugs*

*shrugs right back* I dunno; that never bothered me, especially how he would slip in that little bit about where the wind was coming from to set up the chapter. The man could write like nobody's business; it takes someone like Jim, writing equally well in a totally different style, to catch my readerly interest so much.

[Quantus]

*shrugs right back* I dunno; that never bothered me, especially how he would slip in that little bit about where the wind was coming from to set up the chapter. The man could write like nobody's business; it takes someone like Jim, writing equally well in a totally different style, to catch my readerly interest so much.

Never said it makes sense or anything, it was just a little pet peeve of mine i guess. 

As to Robert Jordan himself,  I miss him, all the great things he could have written *hangs head in silence for a moment*   

[OZ]

I am more a believer in the net. Unless I am reading something critically I don't tend to read line by line anyway. I like something in the first few pages that captures my interest though. Mystery writer Harlan Coben is probably the best I have read at doing this. He's not my favorite mystery writer (although he does rank in the top ten) but he consistenty writes some of the best opening chapters of any writer I have read in any genre. ( That is best at netting you into the mystery)

[KevinEvans]

BTW, as a side note,
A friend of ours Brandon Sanderson ("Elantris", the "Mistborn" trilogy and "Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians" has received the contract to finish the last book (12), he says it will be out Dec. 09.
Regards,
Kevin

Never said it makes sense or anything, it was just a little pet peeve of mine i guess. 

As to Robert Jordan himself,  I miss him, all the great things he could have written *hangs head in silence for a moment*   

[OZ]

"My best friend when I was twelve was inflatable."

 This is the first line in Joe Hill's short story "Pop Art". It remains one of my favorite opening lines to a story. (And the short story it starts is one of the best I have read in a long time.)

[Darklost76]

Here's one the first lines (or two) to something I wrote WAY back in high school (well over a decade ago)::

"For a while there, I thought life had a meaning. That obviously was when I was young and naive...and before the change."


And in amongst all of that high school writing stuff, I found this random, unrelated blurb that never went anywhere:

"Every coin has a light side and a dark side. Unfortunately, so do you. And the best part of the whole deal? The coin that decides the fate or your soul is constantly in motion. One moment, you are the perfect angel (literally)...and the next, you are the devil incarnate. (And everyone though that a woman with PMS had mood swings...?)"

Why that last little parenthetical thought got included, I don't know...



Ah...and here's one of those paragraphs that never got beyond that point:

"Life started off simple for you. Money. Power. Greed. You had complete access to it all. You had want of nothing. You already owned everything. That was...until Camille came into town. She had the look that would go perfectly with your power. The press would love this story. The only thing is...she snubbed your every attempt of seduction and flirtation. The flower arrangements were sent back...and the jewelry, as well. Nothing could persuade her to come to your side. Yet, the night came when she gave in and invited you over for dinner. That would be the night you will never forget.

She won't let you...."


Hrm...and here's another first sentence (or two)::

"I remember that first look into your eyes...standing there so quiet, so mysterious...and seemingly so alone. So lonely from the inside out...."

[Kristine]

How about some classics - some of these wouldn't of hooked me...
Famous First Lines:
   1. Call me Ishmael
   2.Marley was dead, to begin with.
   3.All children, except one, grow up.
   4. For a long time I used to go to bed early.
   5.Alice was beginning to tire of sitting by her sister on the bank.
   6.Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
   7.Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress.
   8.It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
   9.Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and razor lay crossed.
  10.When he was thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.
  11.In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.
  12.Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically.
  13.It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
  14.As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed into a giant insect.
  15.Mother died today. 

List of Authors:
      A)   James Joyce, Ulysses
      B)   Herman Melville, Moby Dick
      C)   Jane Austen, Pride and Predjudice
      D)   Marcel Proust, Swann’s Way
      E)   Charles Dickens, Christmas Carol
      F)   George Eliot, MiddleMarch
      G)   Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
      H)   F. Scott Fitzgerald, Great Gatsby           
      I)    Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
      J)    Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
      K)   D.H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover
      L)   George Orwell, 1984
      M)  Albert Camus, The Stranger
      N)   Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis
      O)   J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

Answers:

(click to show/hide)

1 -B Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 
2-E Charles Dickens, Christmas Carol,
3-O  J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan,
4-D Marcel Proust, Swann’s Way,
5-G  Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,
6-J Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, 
7-F  George Eliot, Middlemarch,
8-C Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, 
9-A James Joyce, Ulysses,
10-I  Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird,
11-H F. Scott Fitzgerald, Great Gatsby,
12-K D.H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, 
13-L George Orwell, 1984, 
14-N Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis,
15-M Albert Camus, The Stranger

[LizW65]

"Hell!" said the Duchess.

(No idea what that's from, but I like it.)