Opening Lines and Voice in Fiction

Compare The Great Gatsby with The Catcher in the Rye for an example of two novels with strikingly different but distinctive voices. It occurred to me the voice of each has probably contributed much to its endurance as a literary classic.

These thoughts came to mind after reading some comments by Stephen King which I pass along for anyone interested. (This is my good deed for today.)

Stephen King on Openings and Voices:

… for me, a good opening sentence really begins with voice. … People come to books looking for something. But they don't come for the story, or even for the characters. They certainly don't come for the genre. I think readers come for the voice.

With really good books, a powerful sense of voice is established in the first line. An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this.

How can a writer extend an appealing invitation -- one that's difficult, even, to refuse?

We've all heard the advice writing teachers give: Open a book in the middle of a dramatic or compelling situation, because right away you engage the reader's interest. This is what we call a "hook," and it's true, to a point. This sentence from James M. Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice certainly plunges you into a specific time and place, just as something is happening:

“They threw me off the hay truck about noon.”

Of course, it's a little do-or-die here for the writer. A really bad first line can convince me not to buy a book -- because, god, I've got plenty of books already -- and an unappealing style in the first moments is reason enough to scurry off.

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertain...