Build Momentum From Page One
There has always been a lot of emphasis placed on the first line. Many consider it the hook: the sentence that will entice—or deter—the reader from pressing on. To an extent this is true. First lines are important. However, I would argue the emphasis put on them is misplaced. Writers should worry less about crafting the perfect first line and more concerned about crafting an opening that builds momentum.
Depending on the form you’re writing in, I would say the rough lengths of a beginning are as follows:
Flash Fiction = First paragraph
Short Stories = First 1-5 pages
Novellas = First 10-20 pages
Novels = First 50 pages
Or, going back to the “Thinking about Narrative,” the beginning is everything that comes before the tipping point. With this in mind, you want to give readers a strong sense of place, a sense of who the main character is and his or her narrative voice, and an idea of the conflict(s) to come. By laying this groundwork you establish what is at stake in the story and in turn, you create tension and momentum.
Take Delia Owens's Where the Crawdads Sing as an example. The prologue opens with, “Marsh is not swamp…” (Owens, 3). As far as first lines go, it's pretty much as straightforward as you can get. Owens uses this simplicity to her advantage though. She quickly builds her world, explaining how marsh “…is a space of light, where grass grows in water, and water flows into the sky…” (Owens, 3). In doing so she establishes a strong sense of place and grounds readers within her story. Owens continues to settle readers in until the prologue’s final paragraph:
On the morning of October 30, 1969, the body of Chase Andrews lay in the swamp, which would have absorbed it silently, routinely. Hiding it for good. A swamp knows all about death, and doesn't necessarily define it as tragedy, certainly not a sin. But this morning two boys from the village rode their bikes out to the old fire tower and, from the third switchback, spotted his denim jacket.
Someone is dead. No one knows how he died. We have mystery. We have tension. We are heading somewhere. We have momentum!
Momentum is what hooks readers—not the first lines. You can have the snazziest first line in the world, but if readers don’t feel like your story is going anywhere it’s not going to matter. Peek over at your shelf and let your eyes linger on the books that matter the most to you. I guarantee you didn’t keep reading them for their stellar first lines. You kept reading (and keep rereading) them because you connected with the world, the characters, and the story.
So the next time you sit down to start a project, don’t stress about that first line. Instead, think about the second and third and fourth lines. Worry about paragraph number ten or page number twenty-two. Focus on the foundation and get the story moving. The language will come and grow as you go, and if it doesn't happen in the first draft that is what editing is for my friends.
Works Cited
Owens, Delia. Where the Crawdads Sing. G.P. New York: Putnam’s Sons, 2018.
