Your book has been written; well, the first draft anyway, so give yourself a huge pat on the back for getting that far. Take a short break and then go back to it – re-read your opening lines. These are what sell your book and they can also break it too. It’s an invitation, the first thing your reader sees after the cover. If the first sentences of your book don’t grab your reader and hold onto them, you will lose that reader. Think about selling a book on Amazon, for example. Most Kindle books offer the reader a sneak peek inside and that is what they use to decide if they will buy the book or not.

So, how do you make sure yours is a good one? Cast your eye over these few strategies that will help you to craft the most memorable, gripping opening sentences.

Your Readers Want to be Surprised

Start by saying something that your reader won't expect. You want to surprise them, make them just a little bit excited and curious about what to expect.

Wax Philosophical

Give your readers something to think about, to really wonder about, by starting off with a philosophical observation or some kind of universal truth. Take your reader on a journey that they really want to go on.

State Facts

Start with a fact that is relevant to your story and introduces it nicely. This also provides the book with a decent framework and a way of telling your readers what they are going to get into as they continue reading.

Create a Mood

Scene setting and mood creation are well-used tools in fiction books but you can do the same with a nonfiction book too. The reader needs to have a sense of the setting, the scene, certain circumstances, an idea of the world that your book lives in. This is incredibly useful where you are introducing an unfamiliar world.

Start With a Quote

Choose an appropriate quote, even two if you like, that support the thesis of your book – at the very least, they should support the point of the opening chapter. A quote is like a statement of your intentions, a way of making your reader go where you want them to while providing you with the room to bring in a more gentle introduction straight after the quote.

Bring Your Characters Into Play

Introduce at least one of the main characters to your readers straight away. Let them know what sort of characters you have, what makes them tick, and give them an idea of the personalities they may meet on their journey through your novel. If you are writing nonfiction this will obviously be a real person. If you are writing in the first-person narrative, introduce yourself to your readers and pass a judgment of some kind on yourself.

Obviously, you don’t need to use all these strategies in your opening sentences; things might get a bit tricky if you did! Do pick the one or two that you think you can use in your particular book and play around with some sentences, see what you come up with.