Story Starters
Opening lines that drop you straight into something already happening. Pick the one you most want to explain, and keep writing.
- Setting type…
What a first line has to do
A first line doesn't need to be clever. It needs to make the reader ask a question. Here are three famous openings and the trick each one uses:
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-FourOne wrong detail in an ordinary scene tells you this world is off.All children, except one, grow up.
J.M. Barrie, Peter and WendyA universal truth with an exception you need explained.Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday; I can't be sure.
Albert Camus, The Stranger (Matthew Ward translation)The narrator's flat voice is the hook.
Using a story starter
- Pick the starter that makes you most curious, not the one that's easiest to continue.
- Write for ten minutes without stopping. Don't plan; answer the question the line raises.
- When you finish, see if the story really starts later. It often does, and that's fine.
Want a whole situation instead of a line? Try the writing prompt generator.
Keep forging
Questions writers ask
What is a story starter?
A story starter is an opening line or situation that drops you into the middle of a story. It removes the hardest part of writing, the first sentence, so you can find out what happens next.
What makes a great first line?
It raises a question the reader wants answered. Famous examples do this in different ways: Orwell's "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen" makes the ordinary strange; Austen's opening of Pride and Prejudice sets up the novel's irony in one sentence.
Can students use these story starters?
Yes. They are written for general audiences and work well for creative writing warm-ups in class. Teachers often give everyone the same starter and compare where the stories go.
Should I keep the starter as my real first line?
Often you will cut it later. Many writers find that their real opening is a paragraph or two in, once they know the story. The starter's job is to get you moving.