The first sentence in a novel is more critical than it appears. What is the author’s intention when a reader starts a book of a few hundred pages?
I intend to create a reader that starts to use their imagination and brings up questions that arise when the subject of the story takes them into areas that intrigue them. I’m writing in first person narration and found a few opening sentences that are remembered worldwide:
“I’m pretty much fucked.” – The Martian by Andy Weir.
“Call me Ishmael.” – Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
“I am an invisible man.” – Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.
A first sentence should give the reader an insight as to what is going to come within the story and a few questions.
Crime Fiction: Hardboiled Detective 