The first line

[seradhe]

OK, something that has been bugging me since my creative writing class way back my first year of college. Figured I'd ask it here.


How much weight do you think the first line of a book carries?

Jims books have never failed to have a seriously awesome first line/paragraph that locks me into the book until it's done. and my Teacher in Creative Writing was practically a nazi regarding the first line (in fact the only reason I passed the class was she liked my first lines)

in the spirit of the topic, I subject a few the the first sentences from my stories....


"It is a little known fact that dragons like to snuggle."
"What the h#!! is it with Vampires and S&M clubs?!"
"At what point does the human mind break?"
"One would think magic coming back into the world would be a great thing."
"I would not think that, waking up this morning, that today would be the last day of my life on earth."

thoughts/suggestions? maybe toss a few of your first lines out?

[Dresden]

I agree with your teacher. Because after the first line / paragraph I can always tell if I'm going to like the book or not.

Your first lines:-

"What the h#!! is it with Vampires and S&M clubs?!"
"At what point does the human mind break?"

I really like these first lines.

[Shecky]

I've always wanted a first line that was a hilarious play on bad literary clichés.

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

Some people like hook beginnings.  And there are some great hook beginnings out there - my personal favourite is Iain Banks' The Crow Road, which opens with "It was the day my grandmother exploded."

On the other hand, a hook beginning needs to be followed up pretty solidly to justify it. And there are a lot of great hook lines that have books following them ranging from so-so to mediocre.  [ "You are reading this book for the wrong reasons" would be a great opening line if the book following it was actually any good at all, for example. ]

Myself, I like nets more than hooks.  I pretty much never put down a book unfinished, and I read fast, and I'd far rather have a first chapter or two give me lots of little things to like than gamble on one big hook and have it fail to work for the people to whom it clearly says "this is not my thing".

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

I agree with your teacher. Because after the first line / paragraph I can always tell if I'm going to like the book or not.

Well, if you're putting them down after the first para if you don't like the first para, that kind of biases the sampling method, no ?

Some stories want quiet starts that draw you in gradually.  It's not a flaw, whereas forcing a slam-bang hook on a story that does not want it is.

[SunPhoenix]

Blood? My Blood? Why am I laying in a pool of my Blood?

[Shecky]

One of my favorite first lines isn't even from a real book. It's from Jubal Harshaw's Stonebenders book that he's dictating in Heinlein's The Number of the Beast: "Uncle Tobias we kept in a bucket. He preferred it that way, of course."

[Tasmin21]

Here's mine:

There’s a certain sound the human head makes when it hits the trunk of a tree. 

[blgarver]

I think opening lines are very important.  But I don't think they should always be hooks.

My favorite opening line of all time comes from Stephen King's first book of his Dark Tower series, The Gunslinger:

"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."

Still gives me shivers.

[meg_evonne]

Personally, I'm a blurb girl.   

[Dresden]

Well, if you're putting them down after the first para if you don't like the first para, that kind of biases the sampling method, no ?

Some stories want quiet starts that draw you in gradually.  It's not a flaw, whereas forcing a slam-bang hook on a story that does not want it is.

I do give a book more of a chance then the first line but I can usually know from the off if I'm going to enjoy it or not.  I usually give 100 pages and if I really dislike it then I stop reading.

[seradhe]

I like the replies! 

It seems there's a pretty even split between hooks and nets. So what are the thoughts on ending lines? same rules apply? if the entire book is good, then the last line can be "neh.." or does it have to be a good sendoff?

.. and yes blgarver, "The man in black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed" counts as an awesome last line too 

My favorite ending line in a book is "In the Dawn of a new world, Damien Vryce smiled". Mucho Brownie points to anyone who knows the book.

[Shecky]

One I've never seen used: "All this touchy-feely stuff was making my ass itch." If that doesn't catch your attention, nothing will.

[seradhe]

One I've never seen used: "All this touchy-feely stuff was making my ass itch." If that doesn't catch your attention, nothing will.

I would politely ask your permission, as the creative owner of that line, if I may write something starting with that line 

[Shecky]

I would politely ask your permission, as the creative owner of that line, if I may write something starting with that line 

If you can stomach it, you can have it with my blessings. I simply exude that kind of junk.