“Where’s Papa going with that ax?”

I thought, what with NaNo going on, you might need a little help with the opening line of your novel.

I don’t know about you, but the opening line is almost always the hardest line for me to write. I don’t care if it’s an essay, or a short story, or a novel. I know what I want to say. I just have the dickens of a time getting started. I mean, I sit there thinking that I could write a ton of words–if only I could get the perfect first line onto the paper.

So if you want inspiration, why not check out these well-known children’s books and how the authors began. Or take a peek at these adult novels and their auspicious beginnings.

(Pssst. One of my favorite novels begins: