Thursday, January 21, 2021

Famous First Words: The Power of a Strong Opening Sentence

by Tara Johnson

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.

A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens, 1859

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

1984, George Orwell, 1949

Call me Ishmael.

Moby-Dick, Herman Melville, 1851

There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C. S. Lewis, 1952

There’s something about a power-packed opening line that entrances a reader. It can set the mood, reveal treasured insights into the main character, raise intrigue, provide humor, surprise, and invite your readers into your story.

When I was finishing my latest release, All Through the Night, I glanced back through the first chapter, sensing that something was off. The pacing was fine, the setting was good, and I loved the mood, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what was wrong. With a sigh, I shoved away from my computer, determined to take a break. Turning to my bookcase, I grabbed the newest story I was dying to read: Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan.

I flipped to the first page.

From the beginning it was the Great Lion who brought us together.

That’s a great line.

I pursed my lips and reached for my worn copy of Pride and Prejudice.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

Excited, I began yanking volume after volume off my shelves to examine each book’s opening lines. All the Light We Cannot See, Redeeming Love, Anne’s House of Dreams . . . my office was soon filled with open volumes. I turned back to my computer and stared at the first page of my story.

That’s what was missing. An intriguing opening sentence.



All Through the Night originally opened up like this:

Cadence Piper walked down the darkened street, breath ragged.

Eh. It’s okay, but it tells the reader nothing about Cadence. It does nothing to introduce the tone of the book. To make the reader curious. I then tweaked it to this:

Cadence Piper walked down the darkened street, her booted footsteps clicking loudly against the gritty walk.

Better, but not there yet. I needed my readers to feel Cadence’s fear. To know she was in a dangerous place. After trying several different lines, All Through the Night’s opening paragraph is this:

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.” I will fear no evil. I will fear no evil . . .

Cadence Piper walked down the darkened street, clutching her reticule to her middle.

Much better.

The lovely thing about power-packing the opening sentence of your story, and I would say each chapter, is that there’s a variety of sentences to choose from. Each of them can be used to reveal a unique aspect of story depth to your reader.

1. Action Sentence

An action sentence shows movement, something happening, but the action should point to something intrinsically important to the character’s situation or hint at the conflict that is coming.

When the phone rang, Parker was in the garage, killing a man.

Firebreak, Richard Stark

2. Character Sentence

The character sentence establishes a character in our mind, but also tells us something about him or her. It makes us curious. It should be written in such a way to make us lean in and subconsciously say, “Tell me more.”

When the blind man arrived in the city, he claimed that he had traveled across a desert of living sand.

The Brief History of the Dead, Kevin Brockmeier

3. Dialogue Sentence

Dialogue is one of my favorite ways to open a story. It immediately pulls the reader into the thick of the action. Be careful to quickly establish who is speaking and give the reader some sense of time and place if you open with dialogue. They will want to feel grounded to something to continue reading.

He speaks in your voice, American, and there’s a shine in his eyes that’s halfway hopeful.

Underworld, Don DeLillo

4. Thought Sentence

The thought sentence can be a bit trickier to pull off but is highly effective if it fits your opening scene. The higher the stakes, the more desperate or quirky or shocking the thought.

Don’t fail. Tonight of all nights, don’t fail.

Engraved on the Heart, Tara Johnson

5. Statement Sentence

This is the most wonderfully broad and yet creatively diverse of all the opening sentences. A statement can be curious, self-deprecating, thoughtful, philosophical, matter-of-fact, humorous, or mysterious, as long as it fits the tone of your book, invokes curiosity, and reveals something about your character or setting.

I’ll make my report as if I told a story, for I was taught as a child on my homeworld that Truth is a matter of the imagination.

The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula Le Guin

All children, except one, grow up.

Peter Pan, J. M. Barrie

Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person.

Back When We Were Grownups, Anne Tyler

6. World-Building Sentence.

This is an opening line that transports the reader into a new place. It can be a galaxy far, far away or the peaceful shores of Prince Edward Island. It sets the reader on new soil, with fresh sounds, smells, and wonders as it tiptoes them into the story.

Far out into the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy, lies a small unregarded yellow sun.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

A fun exercise is to take the current opening line of your work in progress and rewrite it in all six of these sentence types. You may be surprised how much it changes . . . and how your own creativity is charged as a result.

When in doubt, don’t be afraid to start with a classic.

“Once upon a time . . .”



About the Author


Tara Johnson
is a passionate lover of stories who uses fiction, nonfiction, song, and laughter to share her testimony of how God led her into freedom after spending years living shackled to the expectations of others. Tara is the author of three novels set during the Civil War: Engraved on the Heart, Where Dandelions Bloom, and All Through the Night, which releases in January 2021. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and makes her home in Arkansas with her husband and three children. Visit her online at tarajohnsonstories.com.


About All Through the Night


With her stammering tongue and quiet ways, Cadence Piper has always struggled to be accepted. After the death of her mother, Cadence sets her heart on becoming a nurse, both to erase the stain her brother has left on the family’s honor and to find long-sought approval in the eyes of her father. When Dorothea Dix turns her away due to her young age and pretty face, Cadence finds another way to serve . . . singing to the soldiers in Judiciary Square Hospital. Only one stubborn doctor stands in her way.

Joshua Ivy is an intense man with a compassionate heart for the hurting and downtrodden. The one thing he can’t have is an idealistic woman destroying the plans he’s so carefully laid. When the chaos of war thrusts Cadence into the middle of his clandestine activities, he must decide if the lives at stake, and his own heart, are worth the risk of letting Cadence inside.

Everything changes when Joshua and Cadence unearth the workings of a secret society so vile, the course of their lives, and the war, could be altered forever. If they fight an enemy they cannot see, will the One who sees all show them the way in the darkest night?


Giveaway
Leave a comment for Tara for a chance to win a copy of All Through the Night. 

(Prize courtesy of Tyndale House Publishers. It is subject to Seekerville's Giveaway Terms & Conditions. US residents only.) 

31 comments:

  1. Hi Tara:

    I like a first sentence that acts like a tuning fork, which sets the story's tone, alerts the reader to what the book is about, and makes the reader feel in advance just how much they are going to enjoy reading this book. I think any of the approaches you mentioned above can do this. It's just not easy to do. :)

    BTW: did we happen to meet at a OKC ACFW meeting some years ago? I was a guest speaker and there was a Tara there and I asked if she was named because her mother loved, "Gone with the Wind," and she said yes!

    One other thing: does your story have Walt Whitman as a character serving as a nurse in a Union hospital? I'm always curious about this. Walt wrote a book about this experience. In any event, please enter me in the drawing for "All Through the Night".

    That title just made me think of a first line.

    Not a mouse was stirring but it wasn't Christmas Eve. It was the Eve of Destruction.

    That makes me feel liking writing it!

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    1. Yes, Vince! That was me. lol You have a very good memory. :)

      Walt Whitman doesn't make an appearance in this book, mainly because of timing and place, but I would love to have him make an appearance in another book at some point. His journals on nursing during the Civil War is fascinating.

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  2. Thank you for this post, Tara! I've done the same thing—taking all the books off my shelves to investigate the opening lines. I also watched an interview (with an editor or agent, I'm not positive which) where the interviewee said that the best first line she ever read was from Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng:

    Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet.

    I'll just never forget that, and maybe one day I'll read the book she was talking about to find out how Lydia dies.

    I appreciate so much how you lay out the different options for a strong opener, and rewriting to fit each one is a great idea. I'm bookmarking this one. Thanks again!

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  3. So interesting seeing the progression of one sentence. The right opening line can certainly make or break a reader's desire to continue reading and I'd never stopped to think about the different ways to open a story before. I think I will definitely have to consider this more carefully. Thanks for being here, thanks for sharing, and your new books looks great! Congratulations!

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    1. Thank you, Glynis! Sometimes I google top 100 or top 200 opening lines in novels and read through. It's great for getting the creative juices flowing. :)

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  4. Tara, these are good tips and I think I will apply them to my WIP, shake it around and see what comes to the top. I believe one of the reasons my first book finally sold was my opening line, "Not him. Not here. Not now." Which was the last of dozens of opening lines I tried.
    This is especially important NOW, as we need to grab the reader's attention as quickly as possible. It's not the first page any more. It's not the first paragraph. It's the first LINE.
    This year I'm trying to do 1,000 words a day, minimum, instead of fitting my writing around the edges of what everyone else is doing. I'm trying to have more regular hours at the desk. So I'll be back later, I hope when I have my 1,000 words.
    KB
    Establishing boundaries in New Hampshire

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    1. That's a good point, Kaybee. Some readers will stick with an author to the end, but some will only give a story five pages, some three, and others only a page to grab their attention. A powerful opener can make a huge difference!

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    2. I got my 1,000 words. They're 1,000 lousy words, but I got them.
      Your Kaybee
      Slogging it out in New Hampshire

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  5. Great post, Tara. I will have to print this out and save it for reference when I am writing. Please put me in the drawing. I loved Engraved on the Heart.

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  6. Excellent post, Tara! As a visual person, I appreciate the different styles and types of opening sentences you shared.

    Sometimes the opening sentence is all I need to get rolling on a story. It's like a launching pad. Then there are times when I struggle to make it work. Yeah, those aren't near as fun. ;)

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  7. Good points, Mindy! Sometimes I like going to story starters and playing around with those as well. It can be a fun way to get going. 😁

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  8. Tara, great examples of compelling opening lines! Thanks for an easy how-to that can help us create openings that pull in the reader and encourage him or her to keep reading!

    I'm taking your suggestion and brainstorming openings for my current WIP that fit each category. Thanks!

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    1. Hi Debby:

      One of my favorite opening lines is just one word:

      Gunfire!

      That's from "Amish Safe House".

      I read and love your books, too. :)

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    2. You're a kind man, Vince! Thanks!

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  9. Hi Tara:

    One way to see lots of opening sentences with little effort is to click on the "Look Inside" feature of Amazon books. I do this all the time. You'll have your info in seconds for almost any book. It also helps to check the books that are closest to the book you are writing. It is fun to check the books of Julie Lessman and Julie Klassen who published at about the same time in the same genre.

    I also love to see famous quotes at the top of the chapter heading in italic so you know it is not part of the story. I just feel smarter after reading a great quote. I also know that the quote should have something to do with the following chapter. For me, it makes reading it more fun wondering how the quote fits in to the story. It also gives the book more gravitas. Strangely, these quotes often drive me deeper into the story rather than taking me out of the story!

    Watch out for tricky editors. I was at a writers conference where an editor spoke to a large group of writers. She held a handful of manuscript sheets, which she waved in her hands selecting some and rejecting some before reading them to the audience. After reading the opening she asked if the group would publish that book. Almost all the audience didn't like any of them. Of course, it turned out that they were all mega best sellers! The editor's lesson: great openings won't save you. Write the book and work on the opening the whole time as you go along; however, don't wait until you have a great opening to start writing the rest of the book.

    That was the most memorable session of the whole conference…and yes, I was just as tricked as everyone else.

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  10. Fascinating post, Tara! I'm not a writer, but it's easy to see how a great first line can pull a reader in. I enjoyed reading your examples, and I'm looking forward to your new book!

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  11. Hi Tara, this was a fascinating post. I really liked reading all of the different first lines.

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    1. They are pretty intriguing, aren't they? And all of them are so different.

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  12. I enjoyed this post and found it interesting. I love a first line that draws me in. Would love to read. Thank you for sharing, Tara. Blessings

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  13. Wow! This post is filled with great tips and the comments are also very informative. Thanks for sharing and please, enter my name for your drawing. All Through the Night is in my TBR list!

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  14. Wonderful! I'm so glad you found it helpful, Connie. And thanks for adding All Through the Night to your list. I hope you enjoy it!

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  15. Wow Love this post Please enter my name for the drawing This book sounds amazing !

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