First Lines

     All authors love different parts of the writing process. Some like the first line. Some like the first chapter. Some like the middle, or the climax. And some like the ending.
     I like a lot of it, but what I probably like the most is the first line of the whole book. This may not be my strongest point. Actually I'd say it's not my strongest point. But I do love first lines. The first line of a book is called the hook. It is what is used to pull the reader into the story and make them want to continue reading it.

     Some of my favorite first lines are as follows.
     "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." This of course is from The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien.
     "It is the first day of November and so today someone will die." The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater.
     "'You stop fearing the Devil when you're holding his hand.'" Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve 
     "What if Shakespeare had it wrong?" Just One Day Gayle Foreman
     "The thing is, all memory is fiction." Heading Out to Wonderful by Robert Goolrick
     And of course who can forget. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

     There are many ways to write a first line. There are many things you can do with a first line.
     A lot of classic books and several modern books use narrative as their first line. The Hobbit quote is an example of this. It is a sparking line that starts the story and continues it.
     Several authors these days use a line of dialogue to start their novels. The Devil quote is dialogue used as the first line. It is a good way to open the story interestingly, but also open it quickly and puts the reader right into the story.
     Most authors like their first line to have shock value. The Just One Day quote is an example of this. Everyone knows who Shakespeare is. And I'm pretty sure, by now, no one questions him. So What is Foreman doing stating something so boldly? She is using if for shock value. And for me, it worked. I would also say the Heading Out quote does a good job of this. Most people believe their memories to be just that, memories. True memories. Fact. But for Goolrick to state that they are, in fact, fiction, is a bold statement and something that may shock some readers.
     Another way to use a first line is to ask a question. The Foreman quote also does this well. Sometimes asking a question is not a good idea. If the reader is asked to engage right away, it may throw the reader off and make them not want to read that book. But asking a question in the first line may be a good way of engaging the reader. If they are ready for it. It may also make them feel important to the story.
     You may not see why the first lines of a novel are so important and why they are so vital to the story.