Not long ago, Nathan Bransford had an opening sentence competition. With good reason. The opening sentence is the set-up for your entire book. A poor one will ensure that nobody ever gets to sentence #2. A good opening sentence will motivate people to buy your book--it's like money in the bank.
I've been toiling over the opening sentence for Max and Merlin for some time now. Although I have a pretty good one, I'm not sure it rises to the level of "great." Today I'm going to post a few of my favorite book openings--please share some of your own in the comments section if you like.
"Marley was dead, to begin with. There was no doubt whatever about that." --Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
"All happy families are alike. Each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." --Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
"All children, except one, grow up." --J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan
"When Mary Lennox was sent to Miselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle, everybody agreed that she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen." --Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
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