Best opening lines in books - When telling a story, your opening sentence needs to be catchy, so readers continue. The best first lines of books show us the common devices authors use to grab our curiosity. We analyzed 100 New York Times bestsellers’ first lines to share the following insights: 1. Introduce interesting characters in your opening sentence.

 
In today’s fast-paced world, time is of the essence. Whether you’re planning a vacation or attending an event, the last thing you want to do is waste precious time waiting in long .... Cabana bay beach resort reviews

12.) “All I did was ask a stupid question.” –Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King. 13.) “The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit.” –Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. 14.) “The best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help. Or if you insist on Fantasy: "Joshua really thought it would be easier to catch a rabbit; he was a werewolf, after all." The Black Wolves of Boston. jotas_rynds. 78 votes, 157 comments. 3.5M subscribers in the Fantasy community. r/Fantasy is the internet's largest discussion forum for the greater Speculative….Best First Lines Books Showing 1-50 of 131 Fahrenheit 451 (Kindle Edition) by. Ray Bradbury (shelved 5 times as best-first-lines) avg rating 3.97 — 2,402,694 …Let the first line radiate the excitement to come. Intriguing “If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to ask for a glass of milk.” If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Laura Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond. 2015. The first line relates what is unique about the story. The best opening lines will connect directly to the last line.The List of the 15 Most Famous First Lines from Classic Books. 1. Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen (1813) “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”. The opening line of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” introduces the theme of marriage and social ...The Opening Lines Set the Tone and Pace. Consider this opening from The Lonely Mailman by Susanna Isern (illustrated by Daniel Montero Galan): Every morning, just as the sun is rising, the old mailman leaves his house with a bag full of letters. He climbs onto his bicycle, and sets off on his way. With that as the first page, we know ...If you’re looking to book airline tickets for your next trip, then Delta Air Lines should be at the top of your list. Delta Air Lines is one of the largest and most reputable airli...So long as the author explains that niggle sometime soon, that’s fine, and (once you’ve deleted that “grubby”) it’s a good opening line. Example #7. ‘It was not a good day to bury a child, let alone ‘The Chosen One’, and the more Thomas Cowper tried to console his mother the more she sobbed, ‘Fear not, Mary….8. My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent. The old house hunkers on its hill, all peeling white paint, bay windows, and spindled wooden railings overgrown with climbing roses and poison oak. Decay ...If you’re looking to book airline tickets for your next trip, then Delta Air Lines should be at the top of your list. Delta Air Lines is one of the largest and most reputable airli...Sep 21, 2016 ... "A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head." --A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole.1. Perfect First Lines Are Vivid. Here's the line from Ulrica Hume's “Poppies” that caught my attention. I was born upside down, the umbilical cord looped twice around my neck. It's a simple sentence, but I love it. “Born upside down.”. There's something at once whimsical and perilous and messy about that image.Here's an array of famous first lines—and seven strategies to craft a great story starter of your own. Zachary Petit. Jan 18, 2013. On this day in 1873, writer and politician Edward Bulwer-Lytton died. One thing he left behind: The first line from his novel Paul Clifford: “It was a dark and stormy night …”. The sentence went on to serve ...Oct 17, 2019 ... "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud. "Last night I dreamt I went ...Lolita. (Image credit: Everett/REX_Shutterstock) 'Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap ...I always thought "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" had a great opening line: In later years, holding forth to an interviewer or to an audience of aging fans at a comic book convention, Sam Clay liked to declare, apropos of his and Joe Kavalier's greatest creation, that back when he was a boy, sealed and hog-tied inside the airtight vessel known as Brooklyn, …The best opening lines are gut punches. They summarize the book, at least in an oblique way. But they’re not dry facts. They’re genuine, behind-the-scenes glimpses into a human life. ... From the first line of her book, Tiffany reveals that you’re going to learn things about her that you don’t know—personal things. I mean, really ...Chapter 1: In which a scientist visits hell and a deal is struck. — Johannes Cabal the Necromancer. Jonathan L. Howard. The condemned cell stank of cats. — Johannes Cabal the Detective. Jonathan L. Howard. Chapter 1: In which the Fear Institute visits and Cabal is confronted by the police.Charles B. Harris’s “Introduction to Focus: In the Beginning Was the Word” and “100 Best First Lines from Novels”. Michael Bérubé, Stephen Burn, David Cowart, Jeffrey R. Di Leo, Andrew Ervin, Tom Grimes, Charles B. Harris, Kit Hume, Robert L. McLaughlin, Lance Olsen, Sally E. Parry, Nancy Pearl, James Phelan, James Schiff, Susan ...To prove the worth of the page 1 test, here are some of my favorite opening scenes in fiction, all of them followed by stories that more than pay out the early pages’ promise: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami. “When the phone rang, I was in the kitchen, boiling a potful of spaghetti and whistling along with an FM broadcast of ...Here's an array of famous first lines—and seven strategies to craft a great story starter of your own. Zachary Petit. Jan 18, 2013. On this day in 1873, writer and politician Edward Bulwer-Lytton died. One thing he left behind: The first line from his novel Paul Clifford: “It was a dark and stormy night …”. The sentence went on to serve ...ADMIN MOD. What's your favorite opening line to a book? Mine is probably the opening line to Salem's Lot: “Almost everyone thought the man and the boy were father and son.”. This line tells us so much. It tells us the relative ages of the two main characters, that they are not related, and that they are currently in a place where people don ...The first lines in Stephen King books set the stage for the stories that follow. Over his long career, King has written opening sentences that are funny, informative, scary, and downright odd. But which one is the best? Is it the simple statement about the gunslinger following the man in black through the desert in The Gunslinger, the novel that …If you’re looking to explore some great first lines, you should read 22 of the Very Best First Lines of Books. Because…this article isn’t going to give you any of those. If we can’t find an amazing opening line, though, an entertaining alternative is a bad first line. The best worst first lines are so bad that you can’t help but laugh. Still, the charged, energetic, virtuosic, and memorable lines below offer striking openings to a set of remarkable novels. 1. Call me Ishmael. —Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (1851) 2. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. Dec 3, 2019 · A list of books with memorable and captivating first lines, from classics to contemporary novels. Read why these lines are so effective and how they draw readers into the stories. Oct 28, 2019 · Alamy. “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again,” is the intriguing opener of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca (Credit: Alamy) Shorter by a word is Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. “Last ... From the initial words of Moby Dick to the opening line of Harry Potter, the first sentence of a novel is a reader’s entry point into an awaiting world. All writers—from legendary novelists like Toni Morrison and Stephen King to new authors self-publishing their work—must understand how to start a novel in a reliable, effective way.The first lines in Stephen King books set the stage for the stories that follow. Over his long career, King has written opening sentences that are funny, informative, scary, and downright odd. But which one is the best? Is it the simple statement about the gunslinger following the man in black through the desert in The Gunslinger, the novel that …The sense is one of oppression – a central theme in this influential novel, which charts the protagonist’s efforts to rebel against ‘the Party’, a totalitarian government that annihilates all opposition. 7. “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”.The best opening to a story of ancient evil sealed in a can ever. There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. Bold words from a man whose name was Clive Staples Lewis. coincidentally just started Kay's books. This makes me … Best First Lines Books Showing 1-50 of 131 Fahrenheit 451 (Kindle Edition) by. Ray Bradbury (shelved 5 times as best-first-lines) avg rating 3.97 — 2,399,972 ... There’s just something about a great first line. Writers spend hours and hours toiling over the perfect way to start off their novels. So let’s look at the first lines from the top 27 thrillers of 2021. Whether you’re here just to see …If music be the food of love, play on, Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare. 133. lankyfa. • 9 yr. ago. It's a great opening, but if anyone thinks that first line is romantic, read on: If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so …01 /8 Literature's greatest opening paragraphs that will dazzle you. The opening paragraph of a book is the author's first chance to grab the editor's attention, hopefully leading to grabbing the ...12.) “All I did was ask a stupid question.” –Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King. 13.) “The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit.” –Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. 14.) “The best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help.Jul 19, 2018 ... Through the fence, between the curling flower spaces, I could see them hitting. · Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. · It was a&...A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. ‘Marley was dead to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that.’. Dickens truly was the master of the opening line. Unlike A Tale of Two Cities, the opening of A Christmas Carol is short, succinct and straight to the point. Yet it leaves so much to the imagination….Feb 14, 2003 ... "Yes damn it.....the bitch is dead" - I remember that line well. How about John Gardner's novels? I don't have all his books - does anyone have&n...These are the best opening lines from movies, all admittedly catchier than “People often talk about the best final lines in movies.”. They aren’t all necessarily a single sentence, but we ...One of the most famous openings of all, this line offers a social theory, but also offers a promise: we are about to read about a very unhappy – and very uniquely unhappy – family. What ...1. magic_mollie. • 2 yr. ago. "We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold." Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Has the greatest opening scene of all time, in my eyes. I love that book. 5. belledenuit.Here are 10 such powerful opening lines I’ve come across: 10. “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.”-. The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway. About the author: Hemingway had lived life to the fullest.Selection Sunday: 8 p.m. ET Sunday, March 17 on ESPN. First Four: March 20-21. First round: March 22-23. Second round: March 24-25. Sweet 16: …Apr 28, 2012 · Sylvia Plath. The Bell Jar (1963)“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York.”. Postwar American first lines ... Charles B. Harris’s “Introduction to Focus: In the Beginning Was the Word” and “100 Best First Lines from Novels”. Michael Bérubé, Stephen Burn, David Cowart, Jeffrey R. Di Leo, Andrew Ervin, Tom Grimes, Charles B. Harris, Kit Hume, Robert L. McLaughlin, Lance Olsen, Sally E. Parry, Nancy Pearl, James Phelan, James Schiff, Susan ...Aug 28, 2023 · Literature's greatest opening paragraphs. 1. A Tale Of Two Cities (Charles Dickens) Read now on Kindle. 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 ... 21 The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams. Buy Now. Without a doubt one of the greatest fantasy epics of all time, The Dragonbone Chair influenced and is lauded by such fantasy masters as George R. R. Martin and Patrick Rothfuss, and fans have come to cherish it for its worldbuilding and canonical fantasy elements.7. A TALE OF TWO CITIES (1859), Charles Dickens. ''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 ...FAMOUS OPENING LINES OF BOOKS Reading English books is an excellent way to help your learning and get a cultural kick at the same time. Looking back at all that has ... The novel was included in Time’s 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923 and American author J. D. Salinger’s dealings of issues surrounding ...Get you hooked like the first time you picked up a copy of your favourite book. So, to help you out, I went and unpacked ten of the best book introductions I could find. Now, it’s over to you ...Check out these 300+ best opening lines! Tonight we’re going to show you eight silent ways to kill a man. Joe Haldeman, The Forever War (Fiction) Once an angry man dragged his father along the ground through his own orchard. “Stop!” cried the groaning old man at last, “Stop! I did not drag my father beyond this tree.”.If you own a piece of land, it’s important to know exactly where your property lines are located. This information can help you avoid disputes with neighbors and ensure that you’re...1. Call me Ishmael. —Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (1851) 2. 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 …7. A TALE OF TWO CITIES (1859), Charles Dickens. ''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 ...J.K. Rowling wrote all these opening sentences from Harry Potter books , and she deserves a real big thank you for the world of Potter and Hogwarts and "accio." Maybe you like the first line of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which is full of Tom Riddle lore. Maybe you like the one about the muggle Prime Minister (barf).Transparent opening lines also tend bring the humor, like this: This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it. –The Princess Bride by William Goldman. This line also sets up the unconventional and meta nature of The Princess Bride. We come to understand that the narrator is about to give us the abridged version of a ...1. The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien. I’m not just including this one because it’s the most famous fantasy trilogy of all time. This really is one of my favorite fantasy novel opening examples. The sweeping Lord of the Rings trilogy begins in quiet Hobbiton, but introduces the power of the ring…as well as a brilliant hint of ...Finding the perfect first line is a tough task, but some writers are up to it—particularly the ones who we’re highlighting below. These are the best …1.) “It has been sixty-four years since the president and the Consortium identified love as a disease, and forty-three since the scientists perfected a cure.” – ...Spark your imagination with these 100+first line writing prompts for all ages! These simple one-liners are the perfect way to get those creative juices flowing and find inspiration for your next big short story or flash fiction . We have a mix of first-line writing prompts, ranging from fantasy prompts to non-fictional and realistic events.These famous opening lines from books seduce and invite with little foretaste of the epic potentials available should we embark upon these tales. Explore the …21 Classic Opening Lines in Books. In honor of what would've been Gabriel Garcia Marquez's 89th birthday Sunday, see 21 of the most memorable …1. "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 (1813) 2. "All happy families are alike ...The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say. 2. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. A great book that's all about the voice and ...Read writing from Opening lines from children’s books on Medium. Opening lines from children’s books — to capture new readers, to inspire writers, to reminisce with old favourites. The line quoted from Pale Fire isn't even the first line in the book, which is odd. The first sentence of Pale Fire is this: Pale Fire , a poem in heroic couplets, of nine hundred ninety-nine lines, divided into four cantos, was composed by John Francis Shade (born July 5, 1898, died July 21, 1959) during the last twenty days of his life, at ... First lines. We all obsess over our novel’s first lines, and rightly so, because from it the rest of the story must flow naturally and without a pause. Here are 10 strategies to use on first lines for your …There’s just something about a great first line. Writers spend hours and hours toiling over the perfect way to start off their novels. So let’s look at the first lines from the top 27 thrillers of 2021. Whether you’re here just to see …'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times' – from A Tale of Two Cities – has been voted the most iconic opening from a novel. The line from Charles Dickens's French Revolution-era ...5) “Dear Tess, I’d do anything to be with you, right now, right this moment, so I could hold your hand, look at your face, listen to your voice.”. Sister: A Novel, Rosamund Lipton. 6) “ Oh, no, no, no, thought Clara Morrow as she walked toward the closed doors.”. A Trick of the Light, Louise Penny.Jul 24, 2011 ... Below you will find a few opening lines from a few YA paranormal romance novels. ... I think Personal Demons has one of the best opening lines ...Here are some great examples that you can share with your kids. “It was just another regular day in Possum Trot.” (Opening line from Raising Sweetness, written by Diane Stanley) It suggests an old-timey setting in a very small town, and maybe a not-all-together serious tone, too. “There’s a very best time of day on Church Street. I’m definitely going to read this book. Below are fifty great opening lines for you to ponder. We’d love to know if any of these first lines are enough to pique your interest to read the full book. Let us know in the comments section at the bottom of the page. 50 of the most impactful opening sentences in literature: Metamorphosis by Kafka: I always thought "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" had a great opening line: In later years, holding forth to an interviewer or to an audience of aging fans at a comic book convention, Sam Clay liked to declare, apropos of his and Joe Kavalier's greatest creation, that back when he was a boy, sealed and hog-tied inside the airtight vessel known as Brooklyn, … Here are some first line generator tools you can try: 1. Opening Line Generator. This first line generator opens right to a list of 10 random opening line ideas. If you can’t find one that sparks anything in your mind, you can easily scroll down to where it asks if you would like to “Generate Some More.”. 2. Rebecca is a classic novel that spawned a classic film, the only film directed by Alfred Hitchcock to win Best Picture. The opening line has been riffed on, spoofed, and referenced many times over ...Open Library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published. Read, borrow, and discover more than 3M books for free. ... Keep Track of your Favorite Books. Organize your Books using Lists & the Reading Log. Try the virtual Library Explorer. Digital shelves organized like a physical library.These famous opening lines from books seduce and invite with little foretaste of the epic potentials available should we embark upon these tales. Explore the …Here are some great examples that you can share with your kids. “It was just another regular day in Possum Trot.” (Opening line from Raising Sweetness, written by Diane Stanley) It suggests an old-timey setting in a very small town, and maybe a not-all-together serious tone, too. “There’s a very best time of day on Church Street.The 20 Best Book Blogs to Read in 2020. Whether you are a reader or a writer, these book blogs can give you just the inspiration and information you need. The first lines of a story set the mood and draw readers in. This infographic features first lines from some of the most famous books of all time.A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. ‘Marley was dead to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that.’. Dickens truly was the master of the opening line. Unlike A Tale of Two Cities, the opening of A Christmas Carol is short, succinct and straight to the point. Yet it leaves so much to the imagination…. Once upon a time…is not the only way to begin a children’s book. L.M. Montgomery opted for a daring 148-word sentence to open her classic Anne of Green Gables, while J. M. Barrie introduced ... Here are eight of the best opening lines in mystery books! Related. These First-in-Series Thriller Books Will Spark Your Next Obsession "Ike tried to remember a time when men with badges coming to his door early in the morning brought anything other than heartache and misery, but try as he might, nothing came to mind.” ...After an online debate with Brian Moore over the opening sentence of 'A Tale of Two Cities' (best of lines, worst of lines), which I would have rejected for my Top 10 First sentences of novels ...Apr 5, 2023 · 8. My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent. The old house hunkers on its hill, all peeling white paint, bay windows, and spindled wooden railings overgrown with climbing roses and poison oak. Decay ... There’s just something about a great first line. Writers spend hours and hours toiling over the perfect way to start off their novels. So let’s look at the first lines from the top 27 thrillers of 2021. Whether you’re here just to see …

There’s just something about a great first line. Writers spend hours and hours toiling over the perfect way to start off their novels. So let’s look at the first lines from the top 27 thrillers of 2021. Whether you’re here just to see …. Servals as pets

best opening lines in books

Charles B. Harris’s “Introduction to Focus: In the Beginning Was the Word” and “100 Best First Lines from Novels”. Michael Bérubé, Stephen Burn, David Cowart, Jeffrey R. Di Leo, Andrew Ervin, Tom Grimes, Charles B. Harris, Kit Hume, Robert L. McLaughlin, Lance Olsen, Sally E. Parry, Nancy Pearl, James Phelan, James Schiff, Susan ...The first lines in Stephen King books set the stage for the stories that follow. Over his long career, King has written opening sentences that are funny, informative, scary, and downright odd. But which one is the best? Is it the simple statement about the gunslinger following the man in black through the desert in The Gunslinger, the novel that …10 Best Opening Lines in Self-Help Books. The Four Agreements. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. The 48 Laws of Power. Good to Great. How to win friends and influence people. The 4-Hour Workweek. You Are a Badass.FAMOUS OPENING LINES OF BOOKS Reading English books is an excellent way to help your learning and get a cultural kick at the same time. Looking back at all that has ... The novel was included in Time’s 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923 and American author J. D. Salinger’s dealings of issues surrounding ...Using a prismatic compass first entails selecting the bearing and opening its lid, then folding it flat. Next, undo the curled knob, and move the bearing to the top. This is follow...When it comes to booking flights with Delta Air Lines, travelers have a range of ticket options to choose from. From economy to business class, each class offers different levels o...Nov 4, 2013 ... ... best opening and best closing lines in literature. I've been doing this because I think it's good to recognize and praise well-written ...Lolita. (Image credit: Everett/REX_Shutterstock) 'Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap ...“Are you a camera? Because every time I look at you I smile.” Some people may find this flattering while others will find it more cringe-worthy. Pickup lines have been around for d...Compare odds & betting lines Mar 16 to find the best moneyline, spread, and Over/Under totals odds from online sportsbooks.Dec 14, 2017 · Dec 21, 2017 02:05PM. One of my favorite first lines..."That was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie and Dim, Dim being really dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar making up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening, a flip dark chill winter bastard though dry." A Clockwork Orange. These famous opening lines from books seduce and invite with little foretaste of the epic potentials available should we embark upon these tales. Explore the …1. The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien. I’m not just including this one because it’s the most famous fantasy trilogy of all time. This really is one of my favorite fantasy novel opening examples. The sweeping Lord of the Rings trilogy begins in quiet Hobbiton, but introduces the power of the ring…as well as a brilliant hint of ...Jun 2, 2022 · 3. Enticing story beginnings make bold statements. The opening sentence of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina (Constance Garnett translation) is another famous first line from classic fiction: Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (1878, trans. 1901), p. The answer to this is delightfully straightforward: Your opening line matters because it’s your first opportunity to draw the reader in. Great opening lines entice the reader to keep going—to immerse themselves in your story’s world. A disappointing first sentence, on the other hand, might inspire them to set the book back on the shelf..

Popular Topics