Great opening lines are very important for any work of literature. Whether you are writing a novel, a short story, a blog post or a newspaper article, a great opening line will make sure that your reader stays hooked and reads the rest of the content with interest.
Stephen King reflected on the magnitude of a novel’s introductory sentence in these words.
“An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this.”
I have read a lot of books and I think that some opening lines become as legendary as the rest of the novel or the characters portrayed within that work.
They can be read over and over again and never lose their freshness. New meanings can come out of them depending upon your mood. Here are a few of my favourite opening lines from the books that I have read and enjoyed and some are from casual reading
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice
“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, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.” Charles Dickens: A Tale Of Two Cities
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” George Orwell: Nineteen Eighty-Four
“All children, except one, grow up.” J.M. Barrie: Peter Pan
“It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love.” Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Love in the Time of Cholera
“Mother died today. Or maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure.” Albert Camus: The Stranger
“He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish.” Ernest Hemingway: The Old Man And The Sea
“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
“The small boys came early to the hanging.” Ken Follett: The Pillars of the Earth
“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca
“First the colors. Then the humans. That’s usually how I see things. Or at least, how I try.” Marcus Zusak: The Book Thief
“I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975”. Khaled Hosseini : Kite Runner
What’s the best opening line you have ever read in a book or short story that has haunted you or left a deep impression on your mind?
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I know almost all of those you have quoted... also remember; "Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful but few men noticed when caught by her charm."
"The Third Camel died at dawn."
@kaylar I don't know from which novel this line comes: “The Third Camel died at dawn.”
Yes. They are all great people. I think you are having some knowledge in Literature. But I am not. So the only thing I can do is just to appreciate the good writers and persons having good taste in literature. Thank you.
Opening lines are very not only in the writing of novels but also on academic works. I remember the days when I was to write my final year project my supervisor made me realized that my abstract must capture it all. That it must summarize the whole section of my project works. To put it shortly quality of opening lines cannot be overemphasized.
My Masters were asking us to write the project report. They were taking them to their houses and were making corrections. They were giving instructions in pen so that a student can remember the things well.
All great authors know how important an opening line is to grab the reader's attention and instantly connect with them. But there is no opening line ever written that will ever be better than the one penned by Charles Dickens to introduce the reader to “A Tale Of Two Cities.” :)
I don't think they are all necessary nowadays. People do not bother about the great opening and great closure. They want essence. They want information but not transformation. The transformation is already taking place and will take place without any effort. So they concentrate more on information.
@cmoneyspinner I agree. One of the best, though I have a soft spot for Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice too. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
It really sets the tone of the entire novel so well.
'In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.
"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.”', F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Great Gatsby"
Yes. These opening lines and closing lines are meant for those who used to sit comfortably after their lunch and dinner in the open air. They need have to worry about their comforts not at all. They were thinking and knitting their words. I do not think they were doing that also. I can say that they wrote for their next generations. Who taught them about these closings and openings? No one I think.
"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."
Stephen King, The Gunslinger
yes. Those are great lines.
This one fits Stephen King's definition of great opening line: "Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this.”
@kaylar @shivamani @ibtj83 @cmoneyspinner
Thank you everyone for your great input on this post. Here's another great one by one of my favorite writers.
"When the doorbell rings at three in the morning, it’s never good news' – Anthony Horowitz
Some very great quotes indeed!