First Line Prompts
Sometimes you don't need a premise — you need a first sentence with a hook buried in it. Each line below is engineered to raise a question only the next paragraph can answer. Take one verbatim, or bend it until it's yours.
- 01
The funeral was lovely, which annoyed me, because I had planned it for someone else.
- 02
On the morning the ocean went quiet, my grandfather finally started telling the truth.
- 03
I was the only one in town who knew the mayor could fly, and she was the only one who knew why I couldn't.
- 04
The instructions were clear: water the plant daily, never after midnight, and never let it hear you cry.
- 05
We buried the time capsule on a Tuesday; it was returned to us, postage due, on Friday.
- 06
My mother taught me three things: how to bake bread, how to hold a grudge, and how to leave a country overnight.
- 07
The lighthouse had been dark for forty years, which is why everyone noticed when it started answering questions.
- 08
There are two kinds of people in my family: the ones who can hear the house, and the ones the house talks about.
- 09
I won the lottery on the same day I was declared legally dead, and only one of those was a mistake.
- 10
The dog brought home a bone again, and this time it was wearing my missing brother's watch.
- 11
Every map of our town leaves out one street, and yesterday I got a job interview on it.
- 12
By the time you read this, I will have already unwritten it twice.