opening lines?

Just don't write it down. :D I had my closing line for last year's NaNo in my head for months, and didn't write it down, until I finally finished the darn thing in December. I didn't even write it down in my notebook once November started, because I didn't want to get too married to it, in case when I actually got there it didn't fit.

Opening lines are important, but on the other hand, unless you've come up with a really fantastic one, I think they are the most likely bit of the novel to end up being changed when you edit it. Having said that, mine from my 2008 one didn't change. It was: "She sleeps two."

I am a big fan of basing a novel off its opening/closing line. Often I will end up changing said line, but it's a good starting point that can really jump-start an idea. For insance, last year's NaNovel began: "The death toll is 4,285 and climbing." A novel I just finished began with, "Nobody cheered in the moments after his death." Each leave the reader asking more, which is useful. Try brainstorming a list of opening lines. Develop ideas from some, marry existing ideas to others. It's a great method!

It's only a few words. If it bothers you, you can simply not include the opening sentence in your word count in November.

I don't put much effort into my opening sentences. I care about an engaging first chapter, but I just toss down something that leads right into the action for the first sentence. In a novel I'm writing now, it's: "Hunter walked up the steps into the foyer." Nothing brilliant.

My opening lines always give way too much info. My one for my main novel I'm pretty happy with though. It's

"My sister sits, folding clothes. Her deft fingers fly over jeans and shirts."

A bit later, this guy I have never met but kept seeing places named his play "Jeans and T-shirts." I was so weirded out. It was a total coincidence.

I just started writing a new story, and this is my opening line. :D

I like it because it sets the tone for the story (obviously it'll be a little goofy) and it tells you what the story is about.

The one in my WIP is boring as HELL, I'm just worried about finishing it instead of fretting over the details.

"Enter Walter, he’s the owner of this place, specifically a coffee shop. "

See...toldja.

In fact, I think my "true" beginning isn't until chapter six when I've got this line: "Was it a coincidence that Mark was writing on the wall shortly before he disappeared, or was the fact that he wrote on the wall the cause of what happened later?"

Yeah...still kinda clunky, but that's what rough drafts are for. :)

"Hang them from the moon!" cried Lissa.

Here's mine...

"Among all the planets in the Denarian Star System, the fourth one always seemed to glow in the eternal blackness of space a little bit brighter than the others."

In the one I'm working on now, the prologue (Philadelphia, Pa - 2025) begins, "It was raining this morning at 7:35 when I got in my car to drive to work."

For a young adult novel I've been working on:

"Ollie met Jacob two nights after the world ended."

For my WiP, the opening line is:
"Funerals, I always believed, were meant for rainy days."

My strategy for opening lines is usually to try to put in a bit of the setting, rather than start off with dialogue. I've found that I can never do opening dialogue well.

The streetlights flickered, throwing dancing shadows across the vicinity, but all the alleyways were dark.

I like it because it sets a very foreboding scene. In my opinion, it tells the reader that "you ain't exactly in Kansas anymore".

My opening line for my Work in Progress is

However, that's the first line of my Prologue. I don't consider the first line to actually be until the LAST line of the prologue...

Not my favourite line ever, but definitely in the top ten... lol

My opening line for my work in progress is

Which is really unnatural for me since I normally make a conscious effort to avoid starting any sort of writing using the, it, or the weather.

but IMO the actual 'opening' line that opens up the story is at the end of that same paragraph.

It's not that great, but it still amuses

This isn't my NaNo novel, just a random one.
Anyway the prolouges opening line was "By the year 2487 Earth was deemed inhabitable; destroyed by a ravaged ecosystem.".

I try and channel the mood, and write down something strong, and memorable. For my NaNo this year my first line is:

Another favourite first line I've written is:

I don't know. I think I just write stuff down randomly, deleting and searching for the "Ah-ha!" moment where I know it'll work and I can build from it. XD

For my new novel, my opening line is:

"On board the man-o’-war Nightfall, about dinnertime, three young men, or rather boys were sitting between two guns, in a circle."

That's for the prologue, and the ACTUAL opening lines are:

"Lieutenant James Macbeth stood on the quarterdeck of HMS Nightfall, and thought that things were good."

(I stole that one from somewhere, but I can't recall where.)

I really wanna see what you're going to do about double, double, toil and trouble. I'm assuming they don't have a fire or a cauldron?

"A pheasant burst from the thicket at the side of the road in a rushing blur of golden feathers."

I like the one from last year's NaNo better:

"It was a dirty night off the coast of France, with not a star to be seen and only rarely the barest glimmer of moon through scudding sheets of cloud."

Even if it is a dream sequence.

Yipes, I put the prologue's opener... My actual opener is

"Yes, yes. I know, I know!" Thomas Miller wiped his face with his hand.

• The first line for my first NaNoWriMo novel was:

As Mack pushed his Firebird down the freeway through the Delaware Water Gap, he had two thoughts: first, the place had really gotten trashy in the last ten years - it had lost the rugged, refreshingly New Worldly feeling it had when he first saw it; and second, if he could make it to Chicago and find Slim Jim before D-Man, he'd be safe.

Hopefully this fulfills two requirements for opening lines: it sets a bit of tension - he'd be safe - and shows some characterization - who notices their surroundings when they are in trouble? - Plus, it's wordy. If I had to write it over again I probably would have written:

As Mack pushed his Firebird down the freeway through the Delaware Water Gap, he had two thoughts: first, the place had really gotten trashy in the ten years he'd been in New York City - it had lost the rugged, refreshingly New Worldly feeling it had when he first saw it; and second, if he could make it to Chicago and find Slim Jim before D-Man found him, he'd be safe.

• The first line for one of my other NaNoWriMo novels was:

"Tristram Shandy."

It's a conversation between the two main characters and it shows both characters' personalities quite well - the conversation, not this first line.

• And, one other NaNoWriMo novel began:

It was an unusually warm day in Istanbul - or was it global warming? and Calvado, used to the cooler air of Florence, was looking for a café that sold iced tea, iced coffee, or anything cold.

I like this opening because it shows that Calvado is traveling around (Florence, now Istanbul) and it's hot. Calvado is about to fall down the rabbit hole, but this first sentence is nice and sedate - the quiet before the storm.

Here's one for a WIP that smacked me upside the head a few days ago (yeah, I do multiple projects. :P )

"We only meant it as a prank, those people weren't supposed to die, not like that. Definitely not like that."

I just started a new WIP, and so far, my opening line is "Light and Shadows have always been at war."

My biggest WIP has the seemingly requisite two opening lines.

Prologue:
The beauty of Kien was not a fiction told afterwards to make the story more appealing.

And... Chapter One:
Twilight shadows were creeping through Iiria when the first Rencrew Orbiter began to fall.

I'm of half a mind to scrap the prologue completely, but I think it took me a couple of years to get it to the state it's in now and I might cry when I delete it. Woe.

The opening lines from some of my other WIPs.. (Yeah, I have a lot. But never too many!)

When Aileen looked out the large windows of the kitchen, she could see there was a curious mist rising from the fine green grass of the lawn.

Micah Kidd shouldered the long gun, barely noticing the heat of the barrel passing through the tears in his coat.

Gandosh, the prosperous empire bordering the Trahinn Sea, had not seen a land war in nearly six centuries.

It was a blustery day, and relatively warm for the land of the North, where the miniature metropolis of Nevar sprawled along the banks of the Eulya River.

Madeline Delmar was a hesitant woman, long red hair and a half-frowning smile. (Okay, that one is actually not a WIP. But it does need heavy editing.)

Sam Avery leaves the perpetual quiet of the house on Grape Street at six o’clock every morning. (And that one is a short story, not a novel.)

That was a fun game. Seems I either introduce a character or the setting where something really horrible happens. Ha.

For my 07 NaNoWriMo, the opening line was "Summer." Seriosuly, that was it.
My current project starts out "She is beautiful."
I spend more time on the opening line than any other part of the story. And my opening lines are always so short and odd.

Not fantabulous but this is the one I have for a novel I am currently working on (rough draft and on my own time)

"The vicious icy wind cut through Fresha’s cloak, stabbing her with cruel fingers."

The one I'm testing for my NaNovel of this year is

"In the time before time, when all was One, there was everything and nothing all at once."

^_~

Here's mine. It's kinda crappy, but hey, it sort of serves its purpose...bit of setting, bit of characterization. Probably subject to change, though. Anyway:

"He was surrounded by flame and he loved it."

The gods and goddesses were at war in the heavens.

jade

I can foreshadow really well. I just forget to cast the shadow!

Well, my project from last November is in need of serious work. I'm not particularily fond of the opening line I used for it. But I do happen to like the one for my current WIP:

That was the first thing that everyone noticed about me when I was a baby; my eyes. My Father always jokingly claimed that they were mood eyes but my Mom insisted that all babies were like that, sooner or later my eyes would settle on a single color and that would be that. It was a cute little novelty.

Okay. Slightly more than just the first line, but it's rare that I like what I've written. xD

The first line from my NaNo '07 teaser chapter was:

The shortest first line I have ever written for a story is:

I don't have an opening line for NaNo '08 just yet :)

I have mine ... at least I hope I do. Unless the story changes radically in the planning, it'll work

"Once upon a time ... no, this just is not that kind of story."