13 Proven Opening Hooks For Fiction

The First Line Laboratory

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a writer obsessing over their first line must be avoiding writing the actual story."

After the title, nothing causes a writer more anxiety than writing an opening hook. We obsess over it because we know it's the first thing readers judge, and the first chance we have to prove our story is worth reading.

Which is why today, I want to talk to you about the first line in your novel.

But first, let me take the pressure off.

Most Iconic Openers Weren't Written First

They were written last.

After the author knew their story inside and out.

I type out beginnings and they’re awful. I often have to write a hundred pages or more before there’s a paragraph that’s alive. Okay, I say to myself, that’s your beginning, start there; that’s the first paragraph of the book. ~Philip Roth

Writers get stuck because they think they need to:

• Sound profound

• Match a literary classic

• Create something quotable

• Start writing with the very first line

Here's my advice:

Give Yourself Permission To Write Something Awful First

1. Write a bad first line. Make it terrible.

2. Then keep going. Don't stop. Don't edit. Don't obsess. Just write.

3. And come back later. Once you know your story, you'll know how it should open.

Your first draft's opening line has one job.

Get you writing.

That's it.

Of course, eventually you'll want to turn that placeholder into something that makes readers need to know what happens next.

Here are 13 proven ways to do exactly that:

13 Proven Opening Hooks For Fiction

1. Drop readers in media res The bullet missed my head by three inches, embedding itself in my mother's favorite painting.

2. Open with dialogue that sparks emotion "I'm not coming to Dad's funeral," she said, hanging up before I could respond.

3. Start with a power word Betrayal. That's the only word for what happened that Tuesday morning.

4. Create immediate mystery The security system said my husband was still at work, but I could hear him breathing behind our bedroom door.

5. Lead with dramatic action I threw the bomb. Not because I wanted to. Because I had to.

6. Use casual contrast There are worse places to find a body than your wedding reception. Not many, but they exist.

7. Begin with a confession I've been pretending to be my dead sister on Instagram for the past year.

8. Start with a startling fact The average person tells four lies a day. I've already told seventeen, and it's only noon.

9. Open with a warning Let me tell you why you should never trust a locksmith who smiles.

10. Begin at a life-changing moment The day I learned I could manipulate time was also the day I realized I couldn't save her.

11. State a powerful truth This is the saddest story I have ever heard.

12. Create tension It was a pleasure to burn.

13. Make a startling admission It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York

Now, if you're still staring at that blank page, I've got something that might help.

How To Write An Opening Hook With ChatGPT

Maybe you’ve tried AI already.

"Hey ChatGPT, write me a good first line."

And you got back something like this:

"The morning fog rolled in across the desolate street as Sarah contemplated her life choices."

Garbage, right?

That's because you're not speaking AI's language.

Let me fix that for you.

I've created a prompt that turns ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini into your personal first-line laboratory.

The First Line Laboratory

This prompt turns AI from a mediocre writing assistant into a first-line generating machine.

It’s like having Fitzgerald, Austen, and Orwell in your writing room, but with the ability to generate endless variations until you find your perfect hook.

Want to see it in action?

Here's what it produced for a magical realism genre:

"My daughter asks why we nail everything down, and I tell her the same lie my mother told me."

Got your attention, didn't it?

• Why is the mom lying?

• Why is her daughter asking questions?

• And why the heck do they nail things down?

You’re hooked.

Here's How It Works

First, you're going to give your AI specific instructions:

1. The genre you're writing in

2. The emotion you want to evoke

3. The promise you're making to readers

4. The central conflict of your protagonist

Then plug your story details into the below prompt.