Eight writers tell SINÉAD GLEESON how they write the opening line of a novel, and suggest their favourites.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2010/0428/1224269210849.html
I'd really like to see the top ten openings (not limited to one line--or thirteen for that matter 
) as opined by the top agents and/or editors. Now that would be beneficial. If we could cross reference top agents'- and editors' top picks, we could get a pretty good idea of what will hook them. Not only that, we could see the strengths in those openings throughout the books. (This is also subjective, as many editors or agents can be distracted or turned-off from external sources, but their favorites will probably be slow in the changing.)
Also, as Kathleen has mentioned many times before, it would be beneficial to also see the endings they loved the most (the ones they felt the strongest satisfaction from) and why.
Thanks for posting this, posulliv.
I've been thinking about voice lately, and first lines are a great way to get a sense of voice, or lack thereof. Here's the first line from my first novel:
"Scott and Jenny waited for Philip as long as they dared."
It's not a particularly bad sentence. And it rings true to the tone of the rest of the novel. But it's never going to end up on anyone's list of favorite first lines. (It was also one of the last sentences I wrote for that novel, by the way)
My favorite opening line is "It is a truth universally acknowledged..." from Pride and Prejudice. So many of these opening lines have intrusive narration--they may be fun to read, but most of us aren't going to be able to get away with it.
Harry Potter starts out with a wide angle lens kind of narration before zooming in on Harry's point of view. It's not with me, so I can't tell you what it says exactly. None of my critiquers has ever liked it when I've tried to employ this same strategy though. I wonder what I'm doing wrong.
quote:
I'd really like to see the top ten openings (not limited to one line--or thirteen for that matter) as opined by the top agents and/or editors.
I want to be the devil's advocate on this one. Me thinks this would be just as subjective and "useless" as getting the top ten openings from various writers. It's always great to compare preferences--what, he liked that one?!--but in the end, we have to write what excites us and only then try to find the audience with similar tastes. That includes editors and agents, who are as subjective in their tastes as the rest of us.
If you go to the bookstore and library and grab a stack of 30 books and read page one and then chapter one of those with a grabby first page, and then look for patterns with those that did work and those that didn't, you'll get more insight you can use in your writing than you ever would seeing what works for some editor who might or might not be in your audience.
Because these books you've reviewed are published, it's safe to assume that this type of opening will jazz some editor or agent out there. If some of these books have a large audience, it's probably, again, safe to assume your writing will appeal to a good number of folks. You'll just have to execute and then go on the hunt to find those that have sensibilities similar to yours.
I really think that the best thing writers can do is to find the models that do and don't work FOR THEM (characters, plots, beginnings, endings, settings, etc.). Loads of them. Identify the patterns and principles. Then apply. Focus on what YOU care about and believe in. Write the stories YOU love, not the ones Bob XYZ says he likes.
Look at what Stephenie Meyer did. Look at JRR Tolkien. JK Rowling. Lee Child. Bernard Cornwell. Sanderson. They started and wrote from their passion, not from what editors and agents were buying at the time.
You have all the taste expertise you need.
You don't need anyone to tell you what's good and what isn't. You might need a reader or seven with similar sensibilities to help you see if your text is actually delivering the kind of experience you want it to. But as far as identifying what kinds of things work--you've got an excellent meter already built into your own gut and brain. And I'm not talking about response muddied up by some list of supposed writerly rules. I'm talking about what you really like.
[This message has been edited by johnbrown (edited April 29, 2010).]
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My favorite opening line is "It is a truth universally acknowledged..." from Pride and Prejudice. So many of these opening lines have intrusive narration--they may be fun to read, but most of us aren't going to be able to get away with it.
Did you see what you just said up there--"they may be fun to read, but . . ."
Whoa. Stop.
There are NO RULES. None. There's nothing to get away with. There are only effects, the principles of creating those effects, and your ability to deliver. There is only what pulls a specific set of readers in and what doesn't.
If it's fun for you, that's all you need. It will be fun for others. Writing is not about following rules. It's about delivering effects. If you write a fun opening with an intrusive narrator, then the people who like that stuff will gobble it up, including editors and agents. And there are a lot of current readers who love it.
Go read the first page of the recently released THE BRASS VERDICT by best-seller Michael Connelly or THE ENEMY by Lee Child. These beginnings work, not because those authors are Mr. Big Names and can get away with something that doesn't work. On the contrary. These instrusive narrators deliver--they're fun, intriguing, compelling. I had to read on. I couldn't stop. And, obviously, others feel the same way. Otherwise, these books wouldn't sell in the numbers they do. Go read those openings. Did they work for you? If so, then they work. End of story.
TRUST YOUR OWN TASTE 
Focus on effect. Learn the principles of delivering effect. Effect and your ability to deliver--that's all there is.
My two cents.
[This message has been edited by johnbrown (edited April 29, 2010).]