Joseph "Peppi" Vecchio

I am a subscriber to Writer’s Digest. One of the funnest things I like to read is their First Things First section where they provide a picture and challenge readers to write the opening line. They pick and publish the top 10 entries out of about a thousand.
The imagination I see from other readers is amazing. Case in point. In the Jan 2015 issue (not sure how that works, it’s only Nov. 2014), the picture is of a man and woman, facing and embracing each other. The picture is cut off at the top so you can’t see their faces. They’re outside in a park-like area, casually dressed.
I can’t republish the words without consent, but I will tell you about them.
Aside from being highly creative, the same picture brought out tangents from multiple genre’s. I read Romantic, Mystery, Thriller, Comedy and Sci-Fi. They were all very clever, interesting and compelling. They all have a strong voice and good cadence.
Sometimes I try to envision my opening scene as if it were a picture and try to come up with my best first line. If I could come up with something as solid as some of the one’s I’ve read, I’d be happy.
I would certainly encourage you to read some of these first liners. They’re not posted online, sadly. But they are entertaining. I looked at their website trying to find a link to these sharp one liners and failed.
But certainly, looking at a generic picture and putting together a handful of creative, compelling first lines to a book, article or blog would be great exercise.