First Lines

First lines are first impressions

Teachers of creative writing are always bleating about the importance of first lines. They're not wrong, but a first line isn't make-or-break. Many excellent novels have indifferent first lines, but their significance is often created by the fact that they are the opening lines of great books; they are not great books because they have killer opening lines.

Consider the first line of Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. it rambles on for 119 words, and demonstrates that Dickens had no understanding of the semi-colon. Most people can only remember the first dozen words; show-offs know the first two dozen. Dickens was being paid by the word, and was a master at turning one good idea into a whole chapter. (Don't misunderstand me: A Tale of Two Cities is one of my favourite books.)

First lines are like book titles. They can take a while for the writer to feel satisfied with them, but often, they don't really matter. When asked what he'd call a good book title, W Somerset Maugham replied, "The title of any successful book."

Well, the author of The Moon and Sixpence, Of Human Bondage, and The Razor's Edge might say that.

The recent article The Best 43 Opening Lines in Novel-Writing History has some excellent comments, but omits one of my favourites, "Call me Ishmael."

The novelist, Ian Thomson, has put his first lines on his website and it made me take a look at mine.

"Ever since seeing The Wizard of Oz, I've had a keen appreciation of the fact that the less sand is left in the hour glass, the faster it seems to run." - Nantucket Summer

"Eleanor Abercrombie met Marion Easton on the Worcester train shortly after one o’clock. Mrs. Abercrombie had traveled into Boston from Lowell which meant that an earlier departure from Boston was impossible." - Wachusett

"It was one of those brief periods when I was thinking about retirement." -The Camels of the Qur'an

"It had been more than a decade since I'd heard from Osgood." - The Countess Comes Home

"It is the fashion to believe that young people, especially young ladies, should take little interest in the workings of the world but content themselves with making good marriages, and leading virtuous lives." - Portland Place: A novel from Jane Austen's Lost Years [soon to be published]

"There's nothing like murder to bring two people close." - On the Edge of Dreams and Nightmares [soon to be published]

"As an only child, the dynamics of siblings fascinated me, and as much time as I spent with friends with brothers and sisters, I knew I'd never fully understand what it was really like." - The Rock Pool

"It was a Monday." - Entrusted in Confidence [in progress]

"Who knew what to expect these days?" - The Lost Lady [in progress]

Indeed, who knows what to expect these days. 

While writing a good first line can be tough, getting to the last one is a lot tougher.