Writing Effective First Lines

It is #IndieApril in the Twitterverse, and RMFW has a robust list of independently published authors. While I plan on spending all month promoting this talented group of writers, I wanted to talk specifically about how they approach the art of first lines.

There are countless ways to start a story, but the best is to grab the reader’s attention from the first sentence. Here are some tips to find your perfect first line, and some real-life examples from a few of our independently published RMFW board members:

1. Do not start with routine things like waking up—unless you like to break the rules, like PAL Liaison Diane R. Jewkes in her novel The Heart You Need. “Opening his eyes, Alec MacCairn groaned. Pain radiated from the lump on the back of his head.” Jewkes’s character might be just opening his eyes, but the reader is just as dazed as he is! Did he fall? Was he attacked? I have to know!!!

2. The perfect first line can establish a unique voice, as is the case with RMFW President Wendy Terrien’s award-winning novel The Rampart Guards. “Jason stopped at the kitchen doorway and watched his mom stare out the window, her lips moving like she was counting the snowflakes.” Odd and intriguing description indeed. Is Jason an older son? What is his mother counting, and why silently? What is she staring at, and why is this important enough to be the first line of the story? I have to know!!!

3. Perfect first lines are surprising. I will let IPAL Liaison Andre Gonzalez’s brand-new novel Wealth of Time speak for itself. “One squeeze of the trigger and it’s all over. The pistol was cold on his tongue, like a metallic popsicle.” WHAT?!?!

4. Some first lines perfectly state a fact. “The shipping crate was large enough to hold a short, thin man.” Duo’vr by Sue Duff, RMFW Secretary, is shipping us off to a murder no doubt. We must read more to find out who this dead thin man is. Or…is he even dead?

5. Some opening lines are a dialogue just outside of context. The reader is thrust in mid-conversation and must continue, quickly finding themselves three-quarters through the book and having forgotten to eat lunch. Nathan Lowell, former chairperson and longtime RMFW member, is no stranger to this technique in By Darkness Forged. “Malloy Gaines lounged in his chair, waiting for my answer. ‘A snake doesn’t miss his skin,’ I said.”

If you do not have five new books in your TBR pile, you must have already read these superb examples of writing craft. I hope your first lines pack a punch and you find a new favorite indie author this month.

I would love to read your killer first lines, too—share them in the comments!