Once Upon a Time...

The opening line to any book is very important. It has to grab your attention, give you a peek at the story, give you a taste of the writer’s style, and be somewhat memorable. I attended a workshop back in February that was all about the first page of a story, and more specifically the importance of the right opening line. Here are a few opening lines of some of my favorite books:

If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book. –A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning

On the 24^th of February, 1815, the watch-tower of Notre-Dame de la Guarde signaled the arrival of the three-master Pharaon.—The Count of Monte Cristo

In a city called Stonetown, near a port called Stonetown Harbor, a boy named Reynie Mulderoon was preparing to take an important test. –The Mysterious Benedict Society

Charles Lenox sat in the study of his town house in Hampden Lane—that small, shop-lines street just off Grosvenor Place where he had passed most of his adult life—and sifted through the papers that had accumulated upon his desk, as they would, inevitably, when one became a member of Parliament. –A Death in the Small Hours

The tired old carriage, pulled by two tired old horses, rumbled onto the wharf, its creaky wheels bumpety-bumping on the uneven planks, waking Peter from his restless slumber. –Peter and the Starcatchers

For a long time after that summer, the four Penderwick sisters still talked of Arundel. –The Penderwicks

Now, for those of you who know anything about blind children, you are aware that they make the very best thieves. –Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes

Toby Turnkettle was an orphan, but not an orphan in the usual sense, for you see, his parents had not died—they had simply stopped living life, which is entirely different altogether.  –The Almost-True Adventures of Toby Turnkettle (hee hee)