Writing Your First Novel: The First Line
I’m trying to make a return to writing on the blog. I’ve decided to simplify my website and get back to writing about writing as I did back in the day. Today, I want to focus on the very first thing that I believe you should do as a writer, write your first line. The first line of a novel is difficult to construct. (Shoot it’s difficult to talk about too). I recorded a YouTube video and did a horrible job summarizing my ideas, but you can watch it if you’re bored. Otherwise, read the more concise ideas below.
Side note: I will still write about the kids, but on our Box Rocket Parents website. My wife and I are co-writers on that site, which means there will be more frequent posts.
Video
The First Line Focus
Most people want to focus on planning, and that’s great, but it’s not my focus. If you need strategies on how to plan a novel, I recommend that you seek other advice. I hate planning novels because finishing one is challenging enough. The result doesn’t need to be perfect. It doesn’t even have to be good. But saying that you’ve completed a novel is an accomplishment in itself. A published book is something to add to your resume. You don’t have to hope to sell millions. Some people just need a kick on their bucket list.
So if you’re not planning your novel, what should you do first? Start writing? Yes. Write the very first line at least twenty times and stop.
The first line to your novel is the very most important. Some strange people will open a book and read the middle to judge your work. But most “normal people” read the first line and decide whether to click the purchase or back buttons.
How to compose the first line?
Do your research. If you want to create a petition that makes your readers fall in love, look at what others have done. Read the first lines only and save the best ones for later because you will return to their books to learn how to write an opening.
*Keeping a reference nearby is invaluable. You need to know what inspires you.
What should your first line include?
Your first line should encompass your entire novel. People are going to read your book because of this first line. So if the rest of the novel has nothing to do with this engaging segment, they will curse you! Therefore, you have to think of something that makes them want to stay.
How, Sway? How do I make this incredible single line?
Be unique. Give a reader something that they haven’t heard.
The easiest way to give someone something that they haven’t heard is to start with what they have. In other words, take a cliche and change it so that it seems foreign.
Cliche 1: Money is the root of all evil.
Predictable change: I am the root of all evil, so the prophecy says.
Unpredictable change: While sitting in church, I heard the pastor mention the root of all evil, but he made no mentions of his new Porche.
Cliche 2: Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
Predictable change: I fall asleep on the wrong side of the bed.
Unpredictable change: I woke up in my best friend’s mother’s bed, so I gotta lotta ‘splainin to do.
Do I really need to write twenty?
Yes, dammit. There’s no accurate way to teach someone how to write well. Writing is an art with words. If you want to get better, you need all the practice that you can get. And after you write your novel, and you realize that your writing still sucks, rewrite that first line twenty times again.
