“Bring all your intelligence to bear on your beginning.” – Elizabeth Bowen

“The best advice on writing I’ve ever received is, ‘Knock ‘em dead with that lead sentence.’” – Whitney Balliett

“An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this.” – Stephen King

“The last thing we discover in composing a work is what to put down first.” – Blaise Pascal

“Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow