How to Write an Effective Opening Line for Your Novel

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

No you don’t have dust on your screen! It’s a lens flare from the light behind me! I’ll avoid this in future videos! 😂

[@Lorna-JWB]

This is three years after your post, but I LOVE your opening line.

[@justwritenaomi4792]

I agree! It is a great opening line, depending on the type of novel. For that opening line a novel that is very emotional and thought provoking. An introspective discussion about a very human conflict of self. If it is the beginning of an action adventure high fantasy, then probably not so great.

[@AwakeArise]

When I saw the title of this video my mind immediately went to the opening line of Stephen King’s The Gunslinger... "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." Such a great opening line. Just had a look through my many opening lines and it appears that while a few packed a good punch, it was more the opening paragraph as a whole that I liked. Needs work I think 🤔

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

That is a cracking opening for sure :) I may have slightly exaggerated the importance of the opening line itself on reflection... most of the time I'd say readers would read on through the first paragraph at least, so it's great to have opening paragraphs you're happy with!

[@nehukybis]

Good insight on what makes those such great opening lines. This is why I don't worry too much about the first paragraph until the book is almost finished. Writing the first paragraph for a book you haven't written yet is like delivering a speech that you learned phonetically in a language you don't actually know.

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Aaron Z That’s a brilliant way of putting it. There’s no sense agonising over a first line so much that it stops your progress.

[@leigh-anjohnson]

The opening line for my urban fantasy draft is: "I find it easier to trust someone when I know how to kill them, just in case." How's that?

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

It gives me a good sense of character (and potentially their history) and a suggestion of what the plot will be about too. It raises a bunch of questions - so far so good I would say! ☺️

[@leigh-anjohnson]

@@KierenWestwoodWriting I mentioned this character, Jezebel Kessler, in another of your videos. She's a hybrid, half-hunter half-supernatural, and has had people on both sides against her for being something that shouldn't exist. So she’s developed a very proactively defensive personality. She's always on the lookout for threats and even with her friends, she's thinking of the "what if they betray me" and planning ahead for it.

[@lauraroberts2250]

I like it.

[@andreannelavoie660]

I'm glad you've decided to extend the series to ten minutes! (Thought I did have a moment --just a fraction of a second-- when I thought I'd lost my mind, because I swore it was two minute techniques before :) . But you explained it all, and I'm glad I'm not imagining things.)

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Haha you were absolutely right, well spotted! 😂 I thought I could probably add more value with longer videos ☺️ Thanks so much for watching!

[@MrK.A]

For me, nothing beats Gabriel Garcia Marquez's opening line in One hundred years of solitude: ''Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice."

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Oh that's a great one. Establishing sympathy from the reader, an interesting hook and some backstory all in one elegant line. Thanks for sharing that 🙂

[@willname1654]

When you compare stuff, I always think the first one is good, but of course, the second one is better

[@morganbroadhead6943]

The conundrum of writing the opening line to your story is that you often don't know the opening line until after you've drafted the story.

[@Voice.of.the.Fire.Ministries]

Here is the opening line from the crime fiction I had written yesterday... Troy Stephens gave Brady a blank stare and said. “Jimmy is dead.”

[@opollitico]

honestly, you've helped me so much

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

opollitico You’re the best ☺️ Thank you

[@WritewithClaireFraise]

I love weird first lines they always hook me

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

A reader's need to understand a strange start can be a powerful incentive to keep reading, weird openings are great for that :)

[@willname1654]

Do you put all of your videos in a playlist?

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

I have a few playlists going, but I don't think I have one with all of my videos in it, would that e something you'd use?

[@willname1654]

I was just wondering if every video you put out went into one of the multiple playlists

[@writeitdown2013]

Great video! Glad to see you're a big fan of The Road. I wrote my senior thesis on it a few years back in college and love it to this day. It's a deeply profound novel. Did you like the film adaptation? I thought it was probably as good as it could be, and also beautifully shot, but to me it failed to capture the way in which the father employs ceremonies and small gestures for his son as a way to shape the son's experience of the world before the father is gone. You can only really capture that through the details of McCarthy's prose.

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Thanks so much! I love The Road, it's just a cut above for me. I love the weight it carries even in its simplicity. The adaptation I thought was good and I liked that it was faithful in terms of the dialogue, but like you said, in places it just couldn't really reproduce the same exact experience. Thanks so much for watching the video!

[@MayberryBookclub]

Hello! I found your channel from your interview from Steve. This is a great discussion, a lot of insightful practical information.

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Hi! I saw your interview too! Talking to Steve was a lot of fun and he's sent a load of new subscribers my way which is lovely. It's great to connect with other author/booktubers like yourself.

[@MeredithPhillipsWrites]

I love a good opening line! One of my favorites is from Erin Morganstern's "The Night Circus:" "The circus arrives without warning." Have you ever thought of what might be a cool opening line, but have no idea what the rest of the story is? I have a couple of those jotted down--lines that imply some kind of mystery or adventure or raise questions. Maybe one day I'll think of a story to go with them!

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

That is great, I think I've heard that line before, probably as an example of a great opening! I love that. I'm going to read it. I've definitely had ideas for first lines that I've tried to turn in stories and failed miserably! I'm also still waiting for the day one pans out!

[@JoeyPaulOnline]

Those opening lines are really good and give me a lot to think about!

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Fabulous :) I end up thinking about stuff while I'm trying to prepare videos, it's a nice way of learning things for myself too!

[@oyuncanavar2579]

My opening line: Alex's father died when he was 10.

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

That opening lets me know what kind of story I'm going to read, and it also tells me you're writing something intended to carry emotion and make a reader feel something. Always, a good thing to aim for :)

[@oyuncanavar2579]

@@KierenWestwoodWriting So, is it good first line?

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

I'd say so yeah! It's impactful and attention grabbing, and if that's going to be an important factor in your story, it sets the tone well.

[@oyuncanavar2579]

@@KierenWestwoodWriting Alex learns how his father died and who killed him and he takes revenge. But his father didn't kill by any person. A fantastic creature killed him. It is YA fantasy novel.

[@dacrewordsmith]

Yes! 1st line success achievement badge unlocked. Hey, what's your writerly opinion on opening lines starting as dialogue?

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Dacre Wordsmith Good question! I know Stephen King gets criticised for this. Personally I think if the dialogue is really intriguing then it can be fine. I don’t think I’ve started a story that way but I’ve nothing against it ☺️

[@dacrewordsmith]

@@KierenWestwoodWriting well if it's good enough for Steve!?! 🤔

[@nehukybis]

Here's a good one: "Where's papa going with that ax?" said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast. (Charlotte's Web)

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Dacre Wordsmith Absolutely!

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

Aaron Z Yes! That’s a great one.

[@laurabesley7095]

I think this particular tip/technique is really insightful and useful. I recently read The Road for my uni assignment and thought it was great.

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

It's one of my favourites for sure. There's a lot of different ways to write a book, loads of approaches and templates and all else, it's nice to see that simplicty can work too. As someone who goes overboard on plot, it's a good reminder.

[@lauraroberts2250]

You're making me rethink my first line now. I might have to use one I had later in the first chapter. It's this: I miss Willow, of all the girls I've killed she's the one I'm closest to.

[@KierenWestwoodWriting]

That's certainly attention grabbing! :D

[@lauraroberts2250]

@@KierenWestwoodWriting Thanks.