Best First Sentence Contest

The winners are in! Seven talented wordsmiths won a 10-page critique with the instructor that chose their sentences. Congrats to all!

The winners of the 2025 Best First Sentence Contest are below. Congratulations to all of them!

2025 BEST FIRST SENTENCE WINNERS

Allison Brennan:

If Anthony had known his boss would accuse him of murder the moment he arrived, he would have hit the snooze button.

—Anna Man

Karen Dionne:

If you’re going to kill a Boston cop, you’d better be sure.

—William Cunningham

David Ellis:

I’m beginning to give up hope Bob Mitchell is cheating on his wife.

—Donalee Moulton

Alex Finlay

The tiny town of Markham, set in the rolling hills of western North Carolina, was my punishment.

—Rebecca Hodge

Steven James:

There is an art to death, and sometimes there is a list

—Tracy Lane

Tosca Lee

Within every woman, there is a limit: a razor-thin, glinting wire pulled so tight it hums.

—Lindsay Kent

Donald Maass:

The house waited for them at the end of the gravel driveway like a disapproving mother.

—Rachel Reynolds Westerwelle

Isabella Maldonado:

It was the kind of moment that split life in two: before and after.

—GK Daffu

Hank Phillippi Ryan:

You vomit on a tech at a crime scene once and nobody ever forgives you for it.

—Victoria Fendley

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