How to write a good opening line for a book

According to Lindz McLeod, a good opening line should convey three to four pieces of information in order to hook a reader.^[1]

These pieces of information are:

• what the main character is doing,
• what time period or world the book is set in,
• what just happened to stir up conflict in the main character's life, and
• how the consequences of that conflict are going to ripple out in the story to come.

As an example of this, McLeod wrote:

It cost me every penny in my pocket to get half an hour alone with Haverstock before he was hanged, but if I had known then what I know now, I would have paid ten times as much.^[2]

Exercises to practice this:

• rework the first line of my current novel according to these guidelines
• rewrite the firsts lines of published novels to meet these rules.
  • Do I prefer the old version or the new one?
  • Which would make me more likely to read the book?

Planted: Friday 18 July 2025
Last tended: Friday 18 July 2025