First Lines Competition
Deadline: October 7, 2011
A good first line grabs your attention. It might be shocking, it might be intriguing, it might be funny, but it will leave you with lots of questions and wanting to find out more.
We've selected three first lines from this year's Quick Reads and we'd like you to tell us what happens next. Choose your favourite line from the list below and then use it as the opening for your own short story. Where is your story set? Who are the characters? What happens to them? How does the story end? You decide!
First lines
- Helen was wishing it was all out in the open. Then she wouldn’t have to pretend.
- 'What would you do if you won the lottery?'
- My dad’s a policeman and it can land me in trouble.
Prizes
- First prize: £100 National Book Tokens and a complete set of Quick Reads for 2011
- Second prize: £75 National Book Tokens and a complete set of Quick Reads for 2011
- Three runner-up prizes: £25 National Book Tokens and a complete set of Quick Reads for 2011 each
For full competition rules click here.
The first lines in this promotion have been taken from: Strangers on the 16:02 by Priya Basil, Men at Work by Mike Gayle and My Dad's a Policeman by Cathy Glass.
Looking for great stories by great writers? Find out more about Quick Reads.