The first sentence sucks. 

Sometimes you find one that’s brilliant, and you write it down with excitement… but then you realize you have no idea what comes next. (Many a blog post has been abandoned for that reason.) More often, you have an idea for a piece and maybe a rough thesis statement, but you don’t know how to start, so you stare at the page for awhile. Then you start typing something completely inane, hoping that it leads you to your thesis. Often, it does, and the writing goes pretty well from there… but then you still have to go back to the beginning and fix that damned first sentence.

We all know how much first sentences matter. It’s the first thing- and sometimes the only thing- people read. If they don’t like your first sentence, they might not bother with the rest. Your first sentence is your writerly chance for a first impression. It’s like showing up for a job interview with a power suit and polished shoes. A poor first sentence is like showing up for that same job interview in sloppy clothes with a half-drunk to-go cup of coffee in your hand. It just doesn’t bode well. So there’s a lot of pressure on that one sentence.

But on the other hand, the first sentence is also the one that gets you to the second sentence, and the third.

It’s only the first step on the path to constructing a meaningful piece of writing. As long as it’s enough for the reader to think, “Let’s see where this is going,” it’ll do. And if you keep engaging the reader from that point forward, if you keep him thinking new thoughts and raising new questions, by the end it won’t matter what words he read first.

From a writer’s standpoint, the first sentence shouldn’t matter much. Once you get past it, if you have a decent idea, you’ll be able to get it down on paper. Then, as I said before, you can go back and fix the first sentence so it makes sense. If it’s still on the weak side, you can always add a catchy headline or a fun graphic to keep the audience intrigued.

Just as we make false starts in life, so we do in writing. And as in life, the false starts often make for a smoother process and a better product.

First sentences do suck, though.

(So do last sentences. And sometimes the ones in between.)