Words of Redemption

I love opening lines. They are the literary equivalent of a first kiss. A good one fills you with hope beyond hope of what’s to come. A bad one causes you to spend the next 24 hours rationalizing any good reason to continue.

Great opening lines draw you in. They make you want more than just the next line, paragraph or page. Right away. They can also tell you more of what to expect from a story than the title, cover or jacket ever could.

Here’s a good one:

(Note: Don’t click on these until you’ve read the rest of the post.)

“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”

And another:

“Amory Blaine inherited from his mother every trait, except the stray inexpressible few, that made him worth while.”

And another:

“The year that Buttercup was born, the most beautiful woman in the world was a French scullery maid named Annette.”

Absolutely brilliant. All three. Each is unique and perfectly suited for the book which follows, which is why I say that a great opening line can tell you more of what to expect from a story than the title, cover or jacket.

Here, let’s test it out. Take a look at each opening line and, assuming you don’t know the book, make a few guesses about the genre, themes and tone of the story.

Got it? Now, click on the links. What do you think?

And read these books if you haven’t already. A word of warning on the first link: If you read that book, be prepared to read another six. And give yourself several months.

By the way, a great writing exercise is to take opening lines from books, and complete the next several lines from your own imagination. It’s a great warm-up for your own writing and how the uniqueness of your voice can take the initial idea of another and run with it in a totally different direction. Try it sometime.

Now, I think I need to rework the opening line of my book.

- B

P.S. If you’re part of the Twitterati, as I am, there’s a great user called TwitterLit, who posts the opening lines from novels twice a day. Highly recommended. If you’re not on Twitter, get with it! And friend me!

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