A few of my aspirations: do a headstand in yoga; lose five pounds by New Year’s Eve; and write a perfect first line for my novel-in-progress. Easy, right? I wish. I’ve pretty much given up on the headstand and five-pound weight loss, but I’m still trying to write a great opening line for my novel. Hoping for inspiration, I plucked some favorite books off my shelves and compiled a list of their first lines. Some are subtle, some are serious, some are funny, but all are better than mine! If, like me, you need a little inspiration, here are some of the best opening lines ever. (Or some really great ones, anyway.)
Living in Trenton in July is like living inside a big pizza oven.
― Four to Score, Janet Evanovich
There is no lake at Camp Green Lake.
― Holes, Louis Sachar
The circus arrives without warning.
― The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern
Jack Reacher ordered espresso, double, no peel, no cube, foam cup, no china, and before it arrived at his table he saw a man’s life change forever.
― The Hard Way, Lee Child
Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were.
― Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
When I was born, the name for what I was did not exist.
― Circe, Madeline Miller
I had just come to accept that my life would be ordinary when extraordinary things began to happen.
― Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs
Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood.
― The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan
I’ve watched through his eyes, I’ve listened through his ears, and I tell you he’s the one.
― Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.
― The Bad Beginning, Lemony Snicket
This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it.
― The Princess Bride, William Goldman
What are your favorite first lines? Let us know below!
I always liked the first line of THe Hobbit.
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”
I love it! That’s a great one, too!