Writing a killer first line is something many writers struggle with. If you’re at all like me, the further you got along in your writing journey, the more you’ve realized how critical that very first sentence is. When I go book shopping now, I immediately flip open any book whose back cover blurb interests me and read the first sentence of the book, and I can almost always tell immediately if I’m going to like it or not. I think I base my buying decisions almost entirely on that — unless there’s some other factor at play, like I’m looking for comps, or reading something for research, or have read enough reviews to know I want to buy the book, regardless of how the first line goes.

Scary, right? So much power in one little sentence.

So, one great resource you should all be aware of — if you aren’t already following her, please check out Becca Faith Hayman on Instagram, otherwise known as the First Line Frenzy lady. She’s amazing. Every day she posts a submitted first line, shows us what’s good or bad about it, and takes a crack at improving it, and every few weeks she hosts a podcast where she and guest editors go through a pile of first lines and offer their critique. I’ve learned SO much from her.

What I’ve really learned boils down to three main points:

• Great first lines give you an immediate sense of character.
  
• Great first lines drop you into either compelling action or compelling atmosphere, through the lense of the character in question.
  
• Great first lines never, ever start with the character waking up, a discussion of the weather, or (usually) with dialogue.

Yes there are ten million exceptions out there to each of these — but in general, especially for less experienced writers, I think these are the basics of where to start.

How many of these did I break in my earlier projects? All of them, over and over and over. How much better have I gotten at it? A fair bit, I think.

Recently, I’ve also started a small notebook where I track the first line of every novel I read. I’ve got 25 books in there so far, some that I loved, some that I didn’t. I look forward to flipping back through them later and reviewing the entry point for each, and seeing what I can learn from the entire collection.

What are your thoughts on first lines? Any good tips or tricks?