Before I send book two to my editor, I have three things to do:

• finish one final pre-editor revision. I’m half-way through!
• add an epilogue that my beta reader suggested
• FIX THE FIRST LINE

It doesn’t help that I have a very brief prologue now as well as the start of chapter one. So, basically two first lines.

First lines are rough. You want them to be catchy without feeling gimmicky.

You want them to give readers an idea of tone and genre.

You want them to be original.

You want to avoid it being too complicated and complex.

I think my issue with this book is that I originally intended something of an in media res start, which I have since dialed back by giving more context.

Now I’m not sure how to fix the first line. Before rewriting it, I think narrowing down what I want to do with it is key. Once I know what weight I want the first line to pull, I can craft it in order to accomplish that goal.

It’ll come. I know it’ll be a great feeling when that inspiration strikes! What’s your favorite famous first line?