A Compelling First Line From a Best-selling Memoir

What it tells us & why it works

The New York Times best selling true story of an unlikely friendship forged between a woman and the man she incorrectly identified as her rapist and sent to prison for 11 years.

The following is the opening line from the prologue:

September 2006

Ronald Cotton stands a few rows behind Jennifer Thomson-Cannino, watching as she cranes her head through the crowd, looking for him among the faces of the parents who have come out to watch their children play soccer.

WHAT THIS LINE TELLS US & why it works:

• introduces the two main protagonists
• is action oriented, that is, most of the verbs are active: stands, cranes, watch, play. The two inactive verbs — watching, looking — are strong because they support the action of the active verbs.
• Immediate time and place: September 2006, a children’s soccer field.

Introduces questions and suspense: why is he standing behind her? Why is she looking for him? Who is he?

An opening line like this is an interest hook that gets your reader to continue reading your memoir.

Please tell me what you think in the comments below.

If you’d like to write a memoir and have no idea where to start, CLICK HERE to discover “The 5 Important Parts of a Successful Memoir & Why You Need Them.”