They often create mystery. Like 'The door was locked, but I knew what was inside.' It makes you wonder what's behind the door. Simple as that. It gives you a question that needs answering, so you keep reading.
Well, first lines can also introduce a really interesting character. Consider 'She walked into the room, and everyone stopped talking.' This makes you curious about this girl. Who is she? Why does she have this effect on people? By making the character seem so interesting from the get - go, it makes the reader want to learn more about them and their story, which draws the reader into the YA fiction.
They create mystery. For example, like the first line in 'The Hunger Games'. A cold bed makes you wonder what happened, and this mystery makes you keep reading to find out. Simple as that.
They draw readers in through setting an otherworldly mood. A line like 'The sky was a swirling mass of purple and green, a sign that something was amiss in the magical world...' gives a vivid and unusual setting. First lines also often start with a hint of adventure. For example, 'With a map in hand and a heart full of courage, he set out to find the lost city...' This makes the reader eager to follow the character's journey. Moreover, they can create a sense of mystery, like 'The old book, bound in leather and inscribed with runes, held secrets that could change the world...' and readers love to uncover such secrets.
They engage readers by creating mystery. For example, a line like 'A screaming comes across the sky.' makes readers wonder what's going on. Also, they can set the mood. Lines from dystopian novels often set a gloomy or strange mood right from the start. And some introduce a character in an interesting way like 'Call me Ishmael.'
They create mystery. For example, the first line of '1984' by George Orwell, 'It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.' The oddity of the clocks striking thirteen makes you want to read on to find out more about this strange world.
They create intrigue. For example, the opening line 'Call me Ishmael.' from 'Moby - Dick' makes readers wonder who Ishmael is and what his story will be. It's a simple yet effective way to draw the reader in.
They create mystery. For example, a line like 'In a dark, forgotten corner of the old house, something stirred.' makes the reader wonder what that something is. It's simple yet effective in making the reader want to know more.
They create mystery. For example, like in the first line of 'The Great Gatsby' - 'In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.' It makes you wonder what that advice was and why it has stayed with the narrator for so long.
They create intrigue. For example, a line like 'I had the story, bit by bit, from various people, and, as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story.' from a modern novel (hypothetical here) makes you want to know what the story is that everyone is telling differently. It hooks you immediately.
They often create intrigue. For example, a first line that poses a question or presents a mystery makes the reader want to find out more. If it starts with something like 'She saw him across the crowded room, but she knew there was something different about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on...' It makes you wonder what that difference is and how it will play into the love story.
The first lines often introduce something unique. In many best - selling novels, the first line might introduce a strange setting or an unusual character. For example, if the first line is about a character with purple hair and a third eye in the middle of their forehead living in a floating city, it's so different that it grabs your attention. It gives a sense of the extraordinary that might be in store in the rest of the story.