Story Starters

The way a story starts is really important. The first couple of sentences either make you want to read more or just put the book away. The beginning of a story should make the reader want to find out more, and to keep reading, but sometimes it's hard to think of a good way to start a story. Here are some Story Starters that I found that might help you get your story started.

It can be useful to give it to the students so that they develop a story from that starting point.

1. "Get that thing away from me!" the girl yelled.

2. "That will show them," I thought as I hammered the last nail into place.

3. Everyone had a partner but me. What was I supposed to do now?

4. For the most part, Grandpa was a nice man who liked best of all to…

5. Goats, sheep and chickens belong on the farm, not in the middle of...

6. "Get out of there as fast as you can!", I yelled to my brother as...

7. Have you ever noticed that some days seem much longer than others?

8. He didn't look like a genius, he looked more like...

9. He was afraid, but he called upon all his courage as...

10. Her eyes were glazed with a fever, making her...

11. I had always wanted a puppy.

12. I looked around the room. Nothing seemed unusual, but then…

13. I never expected that one day I'd open my closet and find...

14. It was three times as large as me, but I was going to try anyway.

15. I never thought I could do it, but…

16. If this was the truth, then the truth was wrong because...

17. If time could stand still or even go backwards, I would…

18. It was a weird thing, hairy and smelly and limp, but I loved it because...

19. It was Christmas morning, but I was not anxious to...

20. My dog jumped up and started barking...

21. It was my best friend's deepest secret and it would be a hard one to keep...

22. What would you do if your best friend said...

23. I knew it was going to be an unusual day when my mom came into my bedroom and said...

24. It was quiet.... too quiet. That could only mean that...

25. It's hard to know what a computer will do when you plug it in during a thunderstorm....

26. It's lost! What could I do now that…

27. Late one night the neighbor knocked on the front door and asked....

28. I looked up at the stars, and I thought I saw ...

29. She was a funny old lady, but I knew she had come to tell me...

30. I knew if I didn't get nervous, I could make the shot.

31. She was peering through the window, counting the cars that went by, wondering...

32. Everytime my favorite TV show comes on my mom always says, ...

33. Something brushed against me and my surprise turned to horror as I saw...

34. The boy appeared at the door of the cabin, looking ...

35. The castle stood at the top of the hill, close enough to see that in a high window stood...

36. The communicator lay silent in his hand and he realized he had lost contact with...

37. This was not home! The grass was orange and in the sky we saw...

38. The horse pawed restlessly at the ground, a beast eagerly waiting for...

39. The spaceship was out of control and only one person could save us....

40. The waves crashed across the sand and I knew....

41. The wind whipped around the corner, moaning and warning me that...

42. There is nothing better than…

43. They were in the grocery store, in the freezer section, when it happened.

44. This was it. The moment I had dreaded for two weeks. The moment when....

45. Three seconds left on the scoreboard clock -- only three seconds before....

46. Today is the day I turn myself into a new person, a person whom...

47. Today was the day! I finally was going to …

48. We watched in horror as our friend turned the corner and bumped right into…

49. What was I supposed to do? I knew what my friend had done was wrong, but…

50. "Where did everyone go?" I shouted, but there was no answer.