Famous First Words

You want to start a story with an enticing first line. Here are some first lines for your essays, short stories and novels guaranteed to peek reader interest. Or at least to peek their fear. Feel free to use them as writing prompts. If you get published, please pay me money. Any amount. Enough for a bar of chocolate.

Fifteen Future Famous First Phrases:

• I probably know more about humans than I know about my own species.
• I promise not to kill you if you read this entire story.
• This book explains the six easy steps you can take to achieve physical immortality.

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Spleen

I attended a writing workshop, at which the participants were given 12 minutes to write in response to several prompts. The prompts, given to us during the course of the 12 minutes, were to be incorporated into our writing. These prompts were:

• I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry
• Chinese take-out food
• A slipper
• A train whistle

The following story resulted: