Clearly she looks in the window of a bus on her way to xyz place because then she can not only dwell on all her flaws and how she's just so ordinary apart from her piercing green eyes that looked back at her like windows into her tormented soul, but also she can look out at all the other people going about their daily lives and wish that she could be like them, rather than weighed down by her dark secret … get me a bucket
If you start with waking up, capture what's about to happen. An example of an opening sentence from the MC that may keep me reading: "It's hard to wake up when you know you'll be dead by noon."
Admittedly every single one of the deathlands novels (over a hundred of them last time I looked) - except the first one - start (and end) with the words "Ryan opened his eye" Things are clichés because they are done a lot - it doesn't necessarily mean you should never do them, but if you do you need to do them well
Exactly. Show how you are creative in doing something already done. What if the beginning of "The Godfather" started with that guy waking up and finding his favorite horse's head in his bed.
Last month I was featured in a writing blog where part of the format was for aspiring writers to anonymously send in their first sentence, and the blog writer and I each critiqued it. It was an interesting experience for me because as a rule I don't think the first line (or even several lines, or even the first chapter or two) is a deal-breaker for most readers, but I attempted to get into the spirit of things because I'll take an opportunity for promo wherever I can get it. Anyway, I was sent 11 first lines, and I was surprised to see the commonality of a) waking up and b) getting an important phone call as a way to start stories. I mentioned it to the blogger and she said that after reading hundreds of first lines, she could easily put together a list of the top 10 openers she gets.
For the holiday time off I decided to re-read "Ordinary People" by Judith Guest. The first sentence: "To have a reason to get up in the morning, it is necessary to possess a guiding principle." Uttered by the teen Conrad just released from the mental hospital. Actually it was the narrator that said it. She uses narrator, first person, and 3rd person through out the book instead of just one POV.
