Opening sentence

Function

As in speech, a personal document such as a letter normally starts with a salutation; this, however, tends not to be the case in documents, published articles, essays, poetry, lyrics, general works of fiction and nonfiction. In nonfiction, the opening sentence generally points the reader to the subject under discussion directly in a matter-of-fact style. In journalism, the opening line typically sets out the scope of the article.

In fiction, authors have much liberty in the way they can cast the beginning. Techniques to hold the reader's attention include keeping the opening sentence to the point, showing attitude, shocking, and being controversial. One of the most famous opening lines, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times", starts a sentence of 118 words that draws the reader in by its contradiction. Moby-Dick's "Call me Ishmael." is an example of a short opening sentence. The first sentence of the novel Yes contains 477 words. Formulaic openings are generally avoided, but expected in certain genres, such as fairy tales beginning "Once upon a time...".

Satire

Inspired by the opening, "It was a dark and stormy night...", the annual tongue-in-cheek Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest invites entrants to compose "the opening sentence of the worst of all possible novels", and its derivative, the Lyttle Lytton Contest, for its equivalent in brevity.

As title

The opening sentence may sometimes be also used as the title for the work; the Latin for this is incipit, meaning 'the first part' or 'the beginning'. In this way papal encyclicals and bulls are titled according to their incipits.

References

References

1. David Venter. (November 2019). "The Opening sentence - The Genesis of the Novel".
2. Alan Rinzler. "Ask the Editor: The Power of the Opening Sentence - 6 Tips".
3. John Paul Hernandez. (10 August 2021). "How to Write the Best Opening Line".
4. Charles Dickens. (1964). "A Tale of Two Cities". Boston: Dana Estes.
5. "The Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest".
6. Museum of Learning. "Encyclicals: Roman Catholic Usage".