First Lines

Crafting a story's ideal first impression

Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

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First impressions make lasting impressions. We learn this lesson in job interviews and on first dates. Put your best foot forward if you want to keep moving forward.

This principle also applies to storytelling.

Readers do judge a book by its cover. They also judge a story by how it is written. If you ever read books about writing or take writing classes, you’ll soon discover extra weight is applied to making a killer first impression through the first line in your story. Conventional wisdom in the writing world suggests a first line is your one and only chance to hook a reader and persuade them to keep going with your story.

I don’t subscribe to that logic myself. A novel can have a compelling first line and end up being a complete slog in terms of reading. First lines do not make or break a story. That burden rests on your opening scene.

A story’s first line still serves a crucial storytelling purpose. Skillfully crafted first lines foreshadow a key theme or conflict that will drive the story forward.

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Consider the first line from Among Hidden Stars – the third novel in my Alien People Chronicles trilogy:

A cavern on an isolated moon offered a perfect hiding place.

This line immediately foreshadows the story’s central conflict which sees Calandra and Xttra racing to find an ancient artifact that grants immense world-conquering power before it falls into the hands of a tyrannical ruler on their homeworld. In one line, you introduce an element of mystery that forms a key part of the narrative from start to finish.

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The first line from Pandora Reborn – my debut horror novel published in 2018 – also follows this pattern:

First day at a new high school and Ron sensed he already had a fight on his hands.

With this line, I introduce a central theme of Ron Olson struggling to adjust to life in Deer Falls after moving to the small Colorado town with his newly divorced mom and younger brother. It also foreshadows a larger battle with a powerful ancient witch awaiting Ron later in the story.

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Sometimes, a story’s first line can offer an ironic misdirection. This is the case with Hollow Planet – my novelette set in the Alien People Chronicles universe:

No trace of life existed on this barren plateau.

Of course, that first impression proves deceptive when Thomas and his fellow astronauts uncover evidence of ancient aliens on the planet – an extraterrestrial race that might not be as extinct as their environment suggests.

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These examples I shared all illustrate a common guiding principle in writing.

First lines do create first impressions for the reader. A skillfully crafted opening line can foreshadow a story’s central theme or conflict and function as a tone setter for how the reader can expect the story to unfold.

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