In short, no one’s ever had a hands-down-best-ever-according-to-everyone-in-the-world opening line. But I have a few opinions about some opening lines that are particularly well-done.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

“Joost had two problems: the moon and his moustache.” 

It’s intriguing, it’s funny, and it makes the reader (me) want to keep reading to see why either of those things are a problem.

Paradise– Toni Morrison

“They shoot the white girl first.”

I read this book in college and it stuck with me from this line. My class spent almost an hour discussing it: Who’s they? Which one’s the white girl? Are we ever going to find out? Beyond the questions, this is also a powerful opening line that kicks off an intense first chapter. 

If on a winter’s night a traveler- Italo Calvino

“You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino’s new novel, If on a winter’s night a traveler.”

Another college gem! There’s much more to unpack here than I’m willing to do in a blog post, but I’m going to try. Second person point of view and meta narration? “You” are a character in the book you are reading, about to read the book you are reading. Yes, the whole first chapter is you getting ready to read the book. Yes, the rest of the book gets much weirder. 

Fawkes- Nadine Brandes

“I wasn’t ready to turn to stone.”

Who would be? This line introduces a fantastic concept of living people slowly turning to stone due to a plague, which starts the book off to an anxious start. 

A Darker Shade of Magic- V.E. Schwab

“Kell wore a very peculiar coat.”

This isn’t the first time you’ll hear this, but ADSOM is my favorite book, and it all started with this line. It’s short and gets the reader just far enough to discover in the next paragraph what makes that coat so peculiar, which is so charming that it hooked me on the first page. 

Shadow of the Fox- Julie Kagawa

“It was raining the day Suki came to the Palace of the Sun, and it was raining the night that she died.”

As a whole, readers like patterns and parallels. That’s why repetition and alliteration are so popular in many works of fiction and poetry. In this case, it’s the rain marking both a beginning and an end. Add to that the drama of a death, and presto, you have an opening line. 

Tarnished are the Stars- Rosiee Thor

“There was nothing quite like the first tick of a new heart.”

Hear me out. This book slipped onto shelves quietly this year, so if you haven’t read the synopsis, that new heart is clockwork. That first line made my steampunk/gearpunk/science-fiction- loving heart glow. 

The Screaming Staircase- Jonathan Stroud

“Of the first few hauntings I investigated with Lockwood and Co. I intend to say little, in part to protect the identity of the victims, in part because of the gruesome nature of the incidents, but mainly because, in a variety of ingenious ways, we succeeded in messing them all up.”

We circle back around to humor! Also, sometimes long, drawn-out sentences are just as effective as short and succinct ones, especially if they’re funny. 

The Raven Boys- Maggie Stiefvater

“Blue Sargent had forgotten how many times she’d been told that she would kill her true love.”

I mentioned before that death equals instant drama, but so does love. Put those together and ho boy, what a start. 

The Graveyard Book- Neil Gaiman

“There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.”

Yet another example of mystery and intrigue. Darkness is an obscuring force that’s been used for years to elicit feelings of anxiety and disorientation. The knife accentuates those feelings and heightens them. 

You might be able to see some common threads in those opening lines to use in your own works: death, love, mystery, humor, all depending on what you’re trying to write. If you can take something away from that, great! But that’s not quite my main goal, because many of you may disagree with one or more of these. One thing I believe is universal is this: don’t sweat your opening line. 

Some writers can nail their opening lines. Some writers draw audiences in with other ways. Some readers may love a particular opening line, and some readers may not care for it. 

I have many, many favorite books that didn’t make it to this list because their opening lines weren’t the most exciting or intriguing. Does that make them bad books? Absolutely not. Likewise, not all of these books as a whole would make it onto a list of my absolute favorites. 

An exciting opening line does not always signal an exciting book, and a “boring” opening line does not always signal a boring book. Write what you want, what feels right for the story. Someone out there will love it. 

What’s your opinion? Comment below your favorite opening lines!