Seven short sentences
In the fiction business, crafting that captivating opening sentence requires a special gift. Some writers have managed it using just three words; others needed more but they still had the knack of making a dozen sound compact. Seven examples:
Tweet“Mother died today.” Albert Camus, The Stranger
“Call me Ishmael.” Herman Melville, Moby-Dick
“I am an invisible man.” Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
“The moment one learns English, complications set in.” Felipe Alfau, Chromos
“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.” Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” George Orwell, 1984
“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” L. P. Hartley, The Go-Between