Opening Sentences🪝Hooks

It was the Best of Hooks...

Every book has an opening sentence. It’s also called a hook. Not every book has a great opening sentence, though.

Let’s talk about the hook. A great hook has one job. To get the reader to read the second sentence. And so on until all the sentences are read. Then the last sentence of the chapter has the job to get the reader to turn the page, and start the next chapter.

The pages will turn themselves when the author uses great opening lines, or hooks.

48 Examples

• “Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name.  My friends call me Matty.

  And I should be dead.”

  Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir (2022) ~ Matthew Perry

• “Death is my beat.” The Poet ~ Michael Connelly

• “Some openers are so prescient that they seem to burn a hole through the rest of the book, the semantic resonance recurring with the persistence of the first theme in Beethoven’s fifth symphony.” The Stranger ~ Guy Dammann

• “Winter came like an anarchist with a bomb.” The Pusher ~ Ed McBain

• The British playwright Enid Bagnold once asked a feminist what advice she would give to a twenty-three-year-old housewife who, having lost four children, found herself pregnant again by an abusive, alcoholic husband.

  “I would urge her to terminate the pregnancy,” the feminist replied.

  “Then,” said Ms. Bagnold, “you would have aborted Beethoven.” Beethoven: The Universal Composer ~ Edmund Morris

• “It was the bright yellow tape that finally convinced me my sister was dead.” The Damage Done ~ Hilary Davidson

• “Tyler arrived with the horses, February eighteenth, three days after the battleship Maine blew up in Havana harbor.” The Key to Rebecca ~ Ken Follett

• “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.” The Catcher in the Rye ~ J.D. Salinger

• My parents were married when they had me, just to different people.

  Dirtbag, Massachusetts: A Confessional  ~ Isaac Fitzgerald

• “Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura drove a car off a bridge.” The Blind Assassin ~ Margaret Atwood

• “The first time Daddy found out about me, it was from behind glass during a routine visit to prison, when Ma lifted her shirt, teary-eyed, exposing her pregnant belly for emphasis.” An Autobiography ~ Jawaharlal Nehru

• “The guy was dead as hell. He lay on the floor in his pajamas with his brains scattered all over the rug and my gun in his hand.” Vengeance is Mine! ~ Mickey Spillane

• “The stories we tell about illness usually have startling beginnings—the fall at the supermarket, the lump discovered in the abdomen during a routine exam, the doctor’s call. Not mine. I got sick the way Hemingway says you go broke: “gradually and then suddenly.”” The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness ~ Meghan O’Rourke

• "It's way too early in the morning for dead people." You've Been Warned ~ James Patterson

• "For three weeks, the young killer actually lived inside the walls of an extraordinary 15 room beach house." Kiss The Girls ~ James Patterson

• “The funny thing about facing imminent death is that it really snaps everything else into perspective.” Maximum Ride book, The Angel Experiment ~ James Patterson

• “The average human lifespan is absurdly, terrifyingly, insultingly short.” The Naked Ape: A Zoologist’s Study of the Human Animal ~ Desmond Morris

• “Twenty-seven acres of headstones fill the American military cemetery at Carthage, Tunisia. There are no obelisks, no tombs, no ostentatious monuments, just 2,841 bone-white marble markers, two feet high and arrayed in ranks as straight as gunshots.” An Army at Dawn: The War in Africa, 1942-1943 ~ Rick Atkinson

• “I became an orphan today.” 2015 ~ Me

• “It was a routine CT scan for my yearly medical checkup.” ~ Me

• “I didn’t realize I was black until third grade.” Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

• “There’s a time and place for erect nipples, but the back of a Seattle police car definitely isn’t it.” Things We Do in the Dark ~ Jennifer Hillier

• “Hunter infiltrated Sunday school when he was 9 years old. He uncovered one of the most heinous crimes of the century.” ~ n/a

• “There are one hundred and ninety-three living species of monkeys and apes. One hundred and ninety-two of them are covered with hair. The exception is a naked ape self-named Homo sapiens.“ The Naked Ape: A Zoologist’s Study of the Human Animal ~ Desmond Morris

• “We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something like ``I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should drive....'' And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, which was going about a hundred miles an hour with the top down to Las Vegas. And a voice was screaming: “Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?”” and the last sentence of the first chapter: “I didn't tell him about the bats, the poor bastard would find out soon enough”. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas ~ Hunter S Thompson

• “They set a slamhound on Turner's trail in New Delhi, slotted it to his pheromones and the color of his hair. It caught up with him on a street called Chandni Chauk and came scrambling for his rented BMW through a forest of bare brown legs and pedicab tires. At its core was a kilogram of recrystallized hexogene and flaked TNT.

  He didn't see it coming.” Count Zero ~ William Gibson'

• "California, Labor Day weekend ... early, with ocean fog still in the streets, outlaw motorcyclists wearing chains, shades and greasy Levis roll out from damp garages, all-night diners and cast-off one-night pads in Frisco, Hollywood, Berdoo and East Oakland, heading for the Monterey peninsula, north of Big Sur ...The Menace is loose again, the Hell's Angels, the hundred-carat headline, running fast and loud on the early morning freeway, low in the saddle, nobody smiles, jamming crazy through traffic and ninety miles an hour down the center stripe, missing by inches.” Hell’s Angels ~ Hunter S Thompson

• "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." Neuromancer ~ William Gibson

• "It was noon before they finished scraping Uncle Ernie off the dining room table." Lady Slings the Booze ~ Spider Robinson

• “The building was on fire, and it wasn’t my fault.” Blood Rites ~ Jim Butcher

• “The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation.” The Secret History ~ Donna Tartt

• “I did two things on my seventy-fifth birthday. I visited my wife's grave. Then I joined the army.“ Old Man's War ~ John Scalzi

• "Far Out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun." Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy ~ Douglas Adams

• “Moving a guy as big as Keever wasn't easy.” Make Me ~ Lee Childf

• “We were about to give up and call it a night when somebody dropped the girl off the bridge.” Darker Than Amber ~ John D. MacDonald

• “Everything starts somewhere, although many physicists disagree.” Hogfather ~ Terry Pratchett

• “I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a Dumpster.” The Glass Castle ~ Jeannette Walls

• “When the phone rang, Parker was in the garage, killing a man.” Firebreak ~ Richard Stark

• “A screaming comes across the sky. It has happened before, but there is nothing to compare it to now. It is too late.” Gravity’s Rainbow ~ Thomas Pynchon

• “Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board.“ Their Eyes Were Watching God ~ Zora Neale Hurston

• “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” The Gunslinger ~ Stephen King

• "When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home." The Outsiders ~ S.E. Hinton

• "The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason." Seveneves ~ Neal Stephenson

• “Later, as he sat on his balcony eating the dog, Dr Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place within this huge apartment building during the previous three months.” High-Rise ~ J.G. Ballard

• “This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it.” The Princess Bride ~ William Goldman

• “Where’s Papa going with that ax?” said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.” Charlotte’s Web ~ E.B. White

• “When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.” The Hunger Games ~ Suzanne Collins

• "It began as a mistake" Post Office ~ Charles Bukowski

  How They Did It

1. Start with a Bang: Imagine your story beginning with an action-packed scene. Maybe your main character is racing through a crowded market, dodging obstacles. Or perhaps they're facing a mysterious object that's glowing in the dark. Starting with action hooks readers right away.

   • Original: "The explosion rocked the quiet neighborhood, shattering the tranquility of the afternoon."

   • Better: "The deafening blast shattered the calm of the once-peaceful neighborhood, sending shards of glass and dust into the air as people stumbled, wide-eyed, searching for the source of the chaos."

2. Make 'Em Feel Something: Use words that create strong emotions. Describe how your character feels when they face something unexpected, like their heart racing with excitement or their palms sweating with fear. Make readers feel like they're right there with the character.

   • Original: "Her heart pounded as she sprinted through the dense forest, twigs snapping beneath her feet."

   • Better: "Adrenaline surged through her veins, every breath a struggle as she raced through the thick undergrowth, the forest swallowing her whole. The fear of the unknown chased her, making her heart drum against her chest like a wild drumbeat."

3. Get Drama Going: Introduce a problem or a conflict straight away. Maybe your character has a secret they can't keep hidden for long, or they've stumbled upon something that puts them in danger. Drama keeps readers hooked!

   • Original: "The letter arrived, and it changed everything."

   • Better: "As the letter slipped through the narrow slot of the mailbox, its contents held the power to upheave an entire existence. Its words, innocuous at first glance, wielded a secret capable of unraveling the very fabric of her life."

4. Paint a Picture: Use descriptive words to make scenes come alive. Instead of just saying "It was dark," describe the darkness — how it felt heavy, pressing in from all sides, making it hard to see. Create a vivid picture in the reader's mind.

   • Original: "The night was dark."

   • Better: "The night draped the world in obsidian folds, swallowing the streets in a velvet darkness that seemed to consume all traces of life, leaving only the distant glow of stars as reluctant witnesses."

5. Ask a Question: Begin with a question that makes readers curious. It could be something like, "What would you do if you discovered a secret that could change everything?" This gets readers thinking and wanting to know more.

   • Original: "What would you do if you had only one day left to live?"

   • Better: "Imagine waking up to the knowledge that the sun would set on your existence by nightfall. What choices would you make? What dreams would you chase in those fleeting hours before the inevitable dusk?"

6. Show Your Style: Use words and phrases that reflect your unique voice. If your story is funny, start with a joke or a funny situation. If it's serious, set the serious tone from the beginning with your writing style.

   • Original: "It was a stormy night."

   • Better: "The heavens roared with anger, unleashing torrents of rain that drummed against the windows like a relentless orchestra, conducting the symphony of the tempest outside."

7. Shock and Surprise: Drop a bombshell or something unexpected in the first line. It could be a sudden revelation, a shocking statement, or a twist that makes readers go, "Wait, what just happened?" That kind of surprise keeps them reading.

   • Original: "She wasn't who they thought she was."

   • Better: "The photograph revealed a truth they had never dared to imagine—the smiling woman in the picture was not their beloved friend but a doppelgänger, a stranger whose existence threatened to rewrite their shared history."

8. Drop Hints: Hint at something bigger or mysterious that's going to happen later in the story. Foreshadow. It's like leaving tiny clues that make readers curious and want to keep reading to find out more.

   • Original: "Little did they know what awaited them."

   • Better: "Unbeknownst to them, the quaint cabin held secrets buried beneath its weathered floorboards—secrets that whispered of forgotten tales and hinted at the darkness lurking in the forgotten corners."

9. Keep It Short and Sweet: Use concise sentences that pack a punch. Short sentences can create a quick rhythm, grabbing attention without overwhelming readers with too much information.

   • Original: "The door creaked."

   • Better: "The ancient door creaked on its rusted hinges."

10. Practice Makes Perfect: Writing a great opening line often takes a few tries. Experiment with different ideas and openings. Don't worry if it's not perfect at first—you'll find the right one through practice and revision!

    • Original: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

    • Better: "The opening line lay in fragments, a jumble of words that failed to capture the essence of the story. But with each iteration, each rewrite, the elusive perfect beginning shimmered tantalizingly close, waiting to be discovered amidst the pursuit of perfection."

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Here’s a playlist of great song first lines, I made just for you:

#writing #copywriting #stillhere? Thanks - ❤️!
Have any great hooks to add?