Future First Line Contest

George Orwell picked the year for his novel 1984 by inverting the last two numbers of the then-current year, 1948. So let’s do the same here in 2025, and say you’re writing a novel set in 2052.

Now, we want you to give us the first line of that novel. 

We're living in fraught times, and this may take you in a dystopian direction. But that’s not the only way. You may hint at near-future technology, ecology, housing, food, fashion, pop culture, or something else, maybe even something hopeful. And your line doesn’t have to make it obvious we’re in the future, though it should be inspired by the futuristic time period.

Whoever writes the most intriguing first line about their near-future will receive a free Gotham class of their choosing. 

You can actually use more than one sentence, but there is a limit of 25 words.

Like many writers, Stephen King works tirelessly on his first lines, saying, “My first sentences stick with me. They were a doorway I went through.”

As inspiration, here are some first lines from near-future stories: 

I sometimes wonder what was disappeared first—among all the things that have vanished from the island. 

The Memory Police, Yōko Ogawa

"We have your daughter." 

The School for Good Mothers, Jessamine Chan

It was a pleasure to burn.

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury.