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I spend a lot of time reading the first lines of books.
It’s commonly believed that a writer has three paragraphs to either catch up a reader, to make them want to read the entire story, or to lose them forever. I think it’s less. I think a writer has one paragraph, or even only one sentence, to draw in a reader. That first sentence.
Sentence number one doesn’t have to describe the hero or the plot or the setting, though some of them do. What that sentence does have to do in order to snag my interest and get me to read further, is to tell me about the tone of the story, and the tone of the writing. Is it going to be a humorous book? Will I be scared? Is this writer angry and hoping to incite the reader to join him? Is the writer going to transport me to somewhere new, to take me on an adventure?
Here are some of my favorite first lines, from some of my favorite books:
“When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the
elbow.” (To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee)
“Since dawn I had climbed up and down the steep mountain slopes and pushed my way through the dense valley forests.” (In the Shadow of Man, Jane Goodall)
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” (The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien)
“People do not give it credence that a fourteen-year-old girl could leave home and go off in the wintertime to avenge her father’s blood but it did not seem so strange then, although I will say it did not happen every day.” (True Grit, Charles Portis)
“It was a hell of a night for an elopement.” (The Abduction of Julia, Karen Hawkins)
“When Lucy Marinn was seven years old, three things happened: Her little sister Alice got sick, she was assigned her first science fair project, and she found out that magic existed.” (Rainshadow Road, Lisa Kleypas)
“I
t is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” (Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen)
“No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a miscroscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.” (The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells)
“The great fish moved silently through the night water propelled by short sweeps of its crescent tail.” (Jaws, Peter Benchley)
Call me Ishmael. (Moby Dick, Herman Melville)
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” (1984, George Orwell)
Here’s my first first line, from my first book: “It was one thing to dream about being a lady in distress, Katherine Ralston had recently realized, and quite another entirely to be one.” (The Black Duke’s Prize, Suzanne Enoch)
And this one if from my latest book, coming in October of this year: “There were some pieces of advice, Sophia White reflected as she clung to the overturned coach’s wheel in the middle of the half frozen River Aire, that one should simply not ignore.” (Rules to Catch a Devilish Duke, Suzanne Enoch)
Oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t give you the first line from my March 27th book: “Keating Blackwood came awake with the sharpness of gunfire.” (Taming an Impossible Rogue, Suzanne Enoch)
Just looking up some of these first lines makes me want to read the books all over again. My Kindle went on overload this morning. Do you have a favorite first line? Have you ever picked up or rejected a book based on its first sentence? What’s the first line of the book you’re reading right now?
58 Comments on “In the Beginning”
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No, I usually give the book more than a single sentence to catch my attention.
I have been working on Manda Collins “How to Dance With a Duke”. The first sentence is: Miss Cecily Hurston battered her ivory-tipped parasol against the hulking footman who none too gently thrust her through the doors of Number 13 Bruton Street.
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 5:33 am.
Thank goodness for you, TinaF. Because that first sentence is HARD to write! *g*
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 11:33 am.
For me it is all about the first chapter. Since I pretty much love all of my books I can’t pick a favourite first line. The first line in a few of the books that I am currently reading are; “It was a hodgepodge setup, that classroom, not unlike the rest of my life at the time.” Just Another Kid by Torey Hayden. “One day, the ancient fable by Aesop goes, the mighty oaks were complaining to the god Jupiter.” The Heroic Client by Barry Duncan, Scott Miller and Jacqueline Sparks (yeah it’s a textbook but you get that) and “Lucia was more than a little intimidated by the towering castle doorway.” Wings of Change: A Dragon Knights novel by Bianca D’Arc. This last one is erotica and hot enough to steam my hair into frizziness more worse than what it usually is.
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 5:55 am.
Top o de mornin to ya, my friends! Happy St. Patricks’s Day.
I will be perfectly honest with ya. I hardly pay attention to the first line. Usually I read the back cover, etc. to find out what the book is about. If it interests me I buy it. I will read the first couple of chapters, then if I don’t like it I toss it.
As always, Rainey’s brain was full, too full, but one thought kept rising to the top and wouldn’t leave her alone. “Tell me again,” she asked Lena. “Why do we like men?” That is the first paragraph from “Time Out,” by Jill Shalvis.
I’m off to find a parade and green beer! Have a great day!
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 7:03 am.
Nice Irish accent you got there!
LOL
I agree, I read the back cover of the book to see about tone and plot and then I decide that way usually.
I like the first line of the book you just mentioned though. LOL
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 7:54 am.
And a Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of you, too!
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 11:34 am.
My favorite line is from James Patterson’s Hide and Seek. Its not the first but the last before the first chapter. “Peekaboo yourself! I fired back.
I usually give a book a at least a chapter before I put it down… more if a friend has nagged me to read it
The first line of the current book I’m reading is:
The last of Rachel Stone’s luck ran out in front of the Pride of Carolina Drive-In. (SEP – Dream a Little Dream)
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 7:30 am.
Love SEP
Posted on March 18, 2012 at 2:46 am.
Me too!
Posted on March 18, 2012 at 9:00 am.
BTW Happy St. Patrick’s Day ladies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2fizeoT22g
Enjoy
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 7:32 am.
I can’t say as I have any favorite opening lines. I have had a few books where I have not wanted to go further based on the opening line but I’ve read it anyway. Oddly those are NOT the books that I’ve ended up putting down and not finished, though those are few and far between. I just finished “Lothaire” by Kresley Cole, and the first line in that (which is a prologue) is “What fresh humiliation does this day bring?” Ivana the Bold asked her son, Lothaire, as guards escorted them to the vampire known as Stephanovich-the king of the Vampire Horde. The book I’m currently reading is “Spellbound Falls” by Janet Chapman and that first line is “Realizing the guy was utterly serious, Olivia bolted from the truck before she burst out laughing.”.
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 7:43 am.
As I said above, I rarely give credence to first sentences…a book CAN pull me in with a good first page, but if I’ve decided to read a book, I usually just go with it no matter what the first line/page says.
“A BODYGUARD! I don’t need any damn bodyguard!”
The silver toes of Bobby Tom Denton’s purple lizardskin cowboy boots flashed in the sunlight as the ex-football player stalked across the carpet and planted the heels of his hands on his attorney’s desk.
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 7:59 am.
I think the first sentence in a book is very important. I’ve books with great plots that were really bad. I’ve bought books where I read the first couple of pages to get a feel for it and if I like what I’ve read so far it’s what I get. The first sentence is where you grab your readers from and if you don’t have that the reader is not going to read your book and probably not buy another from you.
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 8:11 am.
Amen, aida. *g*
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 11:36 am.
From Pride and Prejudice. I don’t have it front of me, but it is something like It is a universal truth that if a man possesses a fortune, he must be in want of a wife.
Something like that, right?
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 8:11 am.
Yes, I love that line. And the first line from “Emma” is great, too — something about how very together and privileged Emma is. You just know she’s going to fall hard.
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 11:37 am.
Great first lines! I’m looking forward to reading your books.
The book I’m reading right now has this first line: “If not for a muddy skirt, I would have been dead like all the rest.” Lilith Saintcrow, The Hedgewitch Queen. I’m about halfway through the book and thoroughly hooked. I hope to finish it today.
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 8:42 am.
Thanks, Joy!
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 11:38 am.
My daughters and I will stand in the bookstore and pull random books off the shelf to find the best first sentence. We love to do this! It does not make or break a book for me but it sure does set the tone of what I will expect.
You already named my all time favorite opening line from The Hobbit. What an adventure in those first words!
“Perspective. I need to get perspective.” – I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella. I am almost done with it and have loved the book.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 8:52 am.
What fun! It makes me want to read and read and read.
I am currently reading The Forest by Edward Rutherford. First line: High over Sarum the small plane flew.
One of my fav first lines, from The Catcher in the Rye: If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 8:57 am.
I had The Catcher in the Rye line up there, Claudia! But the blog was about twice as long as it is now, and I thought it was getting to the point of being torture. *g*
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 11:40 am.
LOL It is a very long first sentence. That’s one of the cool things about it.
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 6:41 pm.
One of my favorite first lines is from Gentle Rogue by Johanna Lindsey: “Georgina Anderson held her spoon up backward, placed one of the pared-down radishes from her plate in the bowl of the spoon, pulled the tip back, and shot the radish across the room.”
The first line of the book I’m reading now is from Julia London’s, The Revenge of Lord Eberlin: “Count Eberlin left London like a man with the world firmly in his grasp.”
The first sentence doesn’t throw me out of a book. I generally get much further before the actual story will turn me off to the book.
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 10:15 am.
Julia writes an awesome first line, doesn’t she?
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 11:40 am.
As do all the Goddesses. *g*
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 11:51 am.
Ah, shucks. Thanks, Donna!
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 4:21 pm.
Love Georgie and her brothers are fun.
Posted on March 18, 2012 at 2:50 am.
Hovering behind the heavy velvet curtain, Gabriela smoothed her shakey hands down the slinky red halter gown and wished it wasn’t slit so high on her thigh. She needed courage to face the room full of men, but how could she, when she looked like Jessica Rabbit in ths dress?
First paragraph of Sold on You by Sophia Knightly.
I am pretty forgiving with books. I think there are only one or two that I never finished. If I am not hooked by the first chapter, I might put it down and start a different book and come back to it later thinking maybe a different frame of mind might help. Sometimes it works. I have a few still waiting for that change.
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 11:06 am.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
A Tale of Two Cities (1859)by Charles Dickens. A tale of the French Revolution, but this line seems to always describe the present time.
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 11:13 am.
Dickens had a way with first lines. I must say that I will reread even just those lines.
No, I don’t judge a book on that line and put down the book. What gets me to buy and read is the “blurb”. Does this sound good, will I like it, is it one of my fav authors..
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 11:40 am.
I love the 1st line of a book for so many reasons!
I’m currently reading The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick. “In the dark hour before dawn, all the shutters in the great hall were closed against the evil vapours of the night.”
That definitely caught my attention and I wanted to read more!
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 12:13 pm.
I am currently reading “50 Shades of Gray” by E L James. I haven’t read this kinda romance book before but the love story part is so beautiful I just cannot put it down. However I don’t remember the first line.
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 12:29 pm.
I love first lines. Love writing them and reading them. They do not make or break a book for me, though.
I love it when the right one pops into my mind when I am starting a book. It seems the rest of the book is easier to write then, too. Some first lines that just popped out for me—
From Sinful in Satin: “The funeral of a whore will be sparsely attended, no matter how celebrated and famous the whore’s patrons might have been.”
From The Protector: “It was a hell of a way for the son of Hugh Fitzwarren to die—murdered by a mob of breton peasants in a house that stunk of cows and dung.”
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 12:31 pm.
I love when you read the first line after having written the book, and whole story flows back to you.
And now I want to read “The Protector” again, Madeline. Thanks. *g*
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 12:47 pm.
You’ve already quoted one of my favorite lines from Pride and Prejudice.
The first line doesn’t make or break a story for me. If it’s a good one, I’ll be intrigued and want to read more. However, there are too many books that the author couldn’t sustain my interest after the first few chapters. When that I happens I find myself reading the back cover, again. If the story and blurb don’t really match, I’ll skip to the last 5-10 pages to see if I want to read to the end. Occasionally, I’ll try to read more of the book because I liked the ending or couldn’t figure out how the author got to the end (very rare, though).
Currently, I’m re-reading The Hunger Games. The first line is, ‘When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.’
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 1:28 pm.
It’s not a first line, but my fave line of all of my boos comes from Jula Quinn’s How to Marry a Marquis. When Blake says, “Perhaps something about catching oneself an heiress.” I love this reference to their book. The first time I read it I laughed out loud.(which never ceases to cause my family to look at me like I am a lunatic)It also made me feel inluded in an inside joke. I love when a book does that without over explaining things. I am currently rereadig he MacGregor Brides butnow that I have I thought of it How to Marry a Marquis is going to the TBR ple instead of back on the shelf. Before I go I just have to tell all the goddesses that I love this blog. I feel so normal here.(he he)
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 1:38 pm.
We love having you here, Becky! We’re all “normal” on Mt. Oly. *g*
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 4:22 pm.
Forgive the typos. Let the kiddos use my laptop and now some of the keys only work if hit just right.
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 1:40 pm.
I definitely read past the first sentence. I suppose if it was a sentence that clearly showed this was not my kind of book, I might put it down, but generally, I give a book at least a few paragraphs when I’m browsing at the bookstore.
I’m reading RAINSHADOW ROAD by Lisa Kleypas, and it has a terrific first sentence. If I’d found it at the bookstore, I probably would’ve bought it on the strength of that sentence alone… as it is, I bought it on the strength of Lisa’s name. “When Lucy Marinn was seven years old, three things happened: Her little sister Alice got sick, she was assigned her first science fair project, and she found out that magic existed.”
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 1:53 pm.
I seldom remember first lines in a book. But the one I do remember is “Lessa woke, cold.” Drangonflight by Anne McCaffrey. One of my all time favorites.
“Scott Maclaren had a stubborn streak and when he thought he was doing something for the right reasons it was very rare for him to change his mind.” Kilted Desire:Sands of Betrayal by A.B. McKinley.
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 1:55 pm.
Oooh, Sue! I love the Dragonrider books! I had such a crush on F’nor.
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 4:24 pm.
I had a crush on Jaxim. <3
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:50 am.
You mentioned several of my favorites….Moby Dick, The Hobbit, and Pride and Prejudice. Particularly Moby Dick and the Hobbit. Their simplicity is what makes them so memorable, I think.
One of my favorite book series would be the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning. The first 2 lines of Darkfever are “My philosophy is pretty simple – any day nobody’s trying to kill me is a good day in my book. I haven’t had many good days lately.” Those are very dark, but incredibly riveting books.
Another would be the Harry Potter series. I find the first line in those intersting because it involves characters that are peripheral in a way, however their characters shaped the life of the main character. “Mr. and Mrs. Dursley ,of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.”
I’m currently reading The Dressmaker by Posie Graeme-Evans, while I’m waiting for Julia’s on 03/27.
I just happen to see it when I was shopping at Costco, and it sounded interesting. The first line is, “It was the season of Advent and the night was blade sharp.” She is living a lie as a widow and dressmaker to the nobility of England, and her husband returns, very much alive, to wreak havoc. So far, I like Ellen (the main character). She’s creative, smart and plucky.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 2:59 pm.
No, I don’t judge a book by the first line. I DO tend to put them down, however, if the first few pages or first chapter does not grab my attention. Recently, I put down a book when I had gotten to the half-way point, and the hero and heroine had yet to meet. Sheesh! Talk about slow. Too much back-story, not enough romance.
I have found that I’ve never been disappointed by any of the goddesses! You’re all superb authors. You always get my attention, you always have fabulous characters, and the romance never fails to please.
Keep up the good work!
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 4:03 pm.
Thank you, Cheri! I know what you mean about the h/h meeting. I worried about one of my books once, because they didn’t meet until chapter 2.
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 4:25 pm.
I never judge a book within the first few lines or even a few chapters. I spend so much money on books that – out of guilt – I will persist and read more than half a book before I admit defeat…
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 4:32 pm.
You’ve got some great ones there. I finished Rainshadow Road earlier this week, and that first sentence is perfect.
Currently, I’m reading Third Grave Dead Ahead, by Darynda Jones. The first line is “There was a dead clown sitting in my living room.”
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 7:51 pm.
I don’t think I could beat that for a first sentence, LSU. *g*
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 8:17 pm.
Aren’t Darynda’s books amazing !!
Posted on March 18, 2012 at 12:23 pm.
Susie, wasn’t it you who once opened a book with the hero receiving a service I euphemistically call “the gift” from his soon to be former mistress. That was a first line that got my attention.
Posted on March 18, 2012 at 12:27 am.
Why yes, that was me, Fresh. Sin and Sensibility, I believe, was the book. *g*
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 3:42 pm.
I will know after the first page if I will continue on with a book.
I’m re-reading LONESOME DOVE by Larry McMurtry right now – it’s my favourite book of all time.
The first sentence reads: “When Augustus came out on the porch the blue pigs were eating a rattlesnake – not a very big one.”
Posted on March 18, 2012 at 3:09 am.
The first line of my favorite book of all time: “Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were.”
Immediately, at age 16, I was pulled in to the book. I had always believed, even though I had not seen the movie yet, that Scarlett O’Hara had to be quite beautiful to have captured the hearts of so many men, especially that of Rhett Butler. It was intriguing to me that a woman could wield such power over men with only her “charm”!
I have since read the book more times then I’ve watched the movie!
I too love Gerard Butler, by the way!
Posted on March 18, 2012 at 11:40 am.
Great first lines, Suzanne! And the two you posted from your books have me salivating to read them !!
I am one of those stubborn people who will read quite a bit of a book before I give up on it. I think it is because I know how hard it is to write a book now and I want to give the author the chance to tell the story.
One of my very favorite first lines is from Mary Janice Davidon’s UNDEAD AND UNWED, the first in her UNDEAD series.
The line is :
“The day I died started out bad and got worse in a hurry.”
How can you not read on after that?
The first line of my current WIP (a Regency historical) is
No one said anything about snakes.
Posted on March 18, 2012 at 12:27 pm.
I don’t pay much attention to the first line, as I am eager to get on with the story. I will usually stick with a book to the bitter end. If I do give up it is usually after I am halfway through the book.
Posted on March 18, 2012 at 3:07 pm.
The first line does not make or break the book for me.
But I do think there are many great lines in books, and I quote them all the time, who can forget the best ever from Margaret Mitchells book Gone with the wind, and who doesn’t quote them:
“My dear, I don’t give a damn.” “I Can’t think about that right now. If I do, I’ll go crazy. I’ll think about that tomorrow.” “After all, tomorrow is another day!” “Until you’ve lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was or what freedom really is.”
First line in my current book :Someones thoughtless use of magick has out our school in great jeopardy,
Posted on March 18, 2012 at 4:18 pm.
The first line of the book I just finished (“Betrayal of the Blood Lily” by Lauren Willig):
“The food of love isn’t music.”
However, it is better with the first and second line:
“The food of love isn’t music. Its grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches.”
I love first lines. One of my all-time favorite first lines is from C.S. Lewis’s “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”
“There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.”
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 12:07 pm.
The very crux of your writing whilst appearing reasonable initially, did not really sit very well with me personally after some time. Somewhere within the paragraphs you actually were able to make me a believer but only for a short while. I still have a problem with your jumps in logic and one might do nicely to fill in all those breaks. If you can accomplish that, I will undoubtedly end up being amazed.
Posted on June 7, 2012 at 8:14 am.