How do I start this?

It is the truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

Did I get your attention? Good, then lets begin.

They say the opening is the most important. It's the one that has us staring at the blank page tearing our hair out.

Jaydee did a fab post about the terror of the blank page but what do you do after the blank page? You've wrote your MS, and now you are focused on getting that opening just right.

So how do you go from an so-so opening to a great one? You know the one I'm talking about right? The one that makes agents excited enough to read on. That makes them see the potential in you and request your full and then offer representation.

The opening that - once published - makes readers buy your book and set up those fan pages dedicated to great quotes.

Oh sorry, thats the dream talking. Now, back to reality.

His Dark Materials author Phillip Pullman was asked how he wrote great books. His reply was that it's easy; all you have to do is write a brilliant first page. And then a brilliant second page. And then a brilliant third page... And well, you get the idea.

If they're are any hard and fast rules then I'm still looking but I've found a link that may come in handy:

http://writing-novels.suite101.com/article.cfm/more_great_first_lines

So over to you. Do you have a favourite opening of a novel? How do you work on yours to make it great?