By Billiard

In October’s AB article, Tanya Huff takes a look at a few of her opening lines. Taking a cue from Tanya, choose a few of your works-in-progress and look at the first (or first couple) lines. Imagine you’re a reader who has just picked up this book or story and is deciding whether to keep reading. What information does that first line convey? Does it tell that potential reader enough for them to be drawn further into the story? After reading just the first line, what kind of a story do you think a reader will expect?

Alternatively (or in addition), choose a few of your favorite books and analyze their opening lines. You might want to choose a few from the same author or the same genre. How compelling are these opening lines? What kind of information do these first lines convey? How good a job do they do of introducing their respective stories?