So, the beginning of any story needs to capture the attention of the reader, so he continues and wants to find out what's happening.
A Confederacy of Dunces starts "A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head." and gives you just enough to visualize the character yet so little to make you want to continue to read.
What techniques are there to come up with a line to simply capture a reader's interest?
Answer
My experience has been lack of context and mystery most quickly grab my attention. I believe this has to do with the need of the human mind to create order and solve problems. Perhaps examples will illustrate this.
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
Cold April day, northern hemisphere... clocks striking... what?
"They shoot the white girl first."
Shooting girls? Because of their race? Or is it incidental? Where is this? What is happening?
"I write this sitting in the kitchen sink."
The sink? Writing? How? Why? WTF is going on here?
And so forth. YMMV.
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