What makes a good first sentence?
Probably not a question. There are famous opening sentences... "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times"... and I am very influenced by the start of a book or paper as it sets the tone and my attitude towards what I'm about to read. Am I feeling good about this paper? Shall I settle in for a good read for does it seem irritating and waffly from the start?
A least favourite opening sentence for scientific papers is something generic that says nothing, e.g. "Mathematical modelling is a useful tool". It feels lazy and is so general you have no idea what the paper is about. Is this paper about models? Useful in what way? This kind of opening seem weak.
I like the opening sentences of Molly Franke - a researcher I knew when I was in Harvard. Looking at her website, her most recent senior author paper starts like this:
"Despite the recent improvements in the treatment of multidrug- or rifampicin-resistant and resistant tuberculosis (MDR/RR-TB), not all patients experience treatment success"
Is it unconventional to start a paper with despite? Nevertheless, I think it's a good first sentence because you know immediately that the paper is about TB, drug resistant TB, and treatment failure. Gets straight to the point.
I don't know fiction books/non-fiction books/writing. I will look at examples later.