Writing Workshops

The First Sentence: A Generative Workshop with Baylina Pu

$445

6 Sessions

In stock

Once a week Tuesdays, 7:00 pm EDT - 9:00 pm EDT April 21 to May 26, 2026

Online via Zoom

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“First sentences are doors to worlds.” —Ursula K. Le Guin

That’s exactly what a first sentence does: It opens. It grabs. It lunges. Sometimes, it screams. In this course, we will uncover what makes a memorable first sentence that captures and holds hostage the reader’s attention. Every story starts with a sentence: a combination of words that casts a spell upon the reader.

In this class, you will be asked to notice phrases you encounter in your everyday life that glitter, that crackle, that feel charged with first-line energy. You’ll analyze what attracts you to a first sentence, whether it’s a compelling hook, beautiful language, a strong sense of voice, etc., and you’ll read examples of first sentences to learn what patterns and strategies authors have used in the past to reel in their readers. Finally, in this generative course, you will write many, many first sentences that you’ll be able to use as springboards for your own writing projects.

We will be reading first sentences and excerpts by the likes of Gabriel Garcia Márquez, Ha Jin, George Saunders, Jesmyn Ward, Alain Mabanckou—and your classmates. By the end of this course, you will have a bank of first sentences to draw from, a hall full of doors to expand into worlds.

Course Outline:

Session I – The Plot Twist: We’ll examine first sentences that start normally, then suddenly careen in a completely unexpected direction. These subversive, whiplash-inducing sentences generate momentum that keeps you reading. In the latter half of each session, we’ll write and workshop sentences of our own.
Session II – The Most Unbelievable Thing: One of the most common and effective ways to begin a story is to start with the most unbelievable thing. No throat-clearing or table-setting—just straight to the weirdness of it all.
Session III – The Gnomic Mood: This is a grammatical mood used in some of the most iconic first sentences of all time, favored by writers from Jane Austen to Leo Tolstoy. We’ll talk about what this mood is and why it works so well for first sentences.
Session IV – The Voice: Ever start reading something and immediately fall in love with the narrator’s voice? In this session, we’ll study first sentences that instantly immerse us in a unique perspective, and we’ll discover how to make that magic happen in our own work.
Session V – The Unconventional: Sometimes, a sentence is just so strange, beautiful, or otherwise unconventional that it demands one’s attention. This week, we’ll explore sentences whose distinctiveness and peculiarity keep the reader hooked.
Session VI – The Rest of It: Congratulations—you’re now a certified expert on first sentences! Now you just have to write…the rest of it. In our final class, we will explore how to continue writing from your first sentences and develop the critical skill of ensuring that the momentum from the first sentence carries through the rest of the work.

Teaching Style: The teaching style of this course combines both instructor- and participant-driven approaches. I will facilitate interactive activities, class discussions, and writing workshops.

Level: All Levels

This course is held online via Zoom.

Led by

Baylina Pu

Baylina Pu

Baylina Pu graduated from Yale in 2023. Her work has been published in Michigan Quarterly Review Online, New Ohio Review, Black Warrior Review Online, the Yale Literary Magazine, Dirt, and more. She received her MFA from Columbia University, where she was awarded the Felipe De Alba Fellowship, and her writing has been nominated for Best of the Net. She has served as Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University and currently teaches at Gotham Writers Workshop. You can find her at baylinapu.com.

About this series

Writing Workshops

We strive to make our classes the most inviting and rewarding available, offering an intimate environment to study with award-winning, world-class writers. Each class is specially designed by the instructor, so whether you’re a fledgling writer or an MFA graduate polishing your novel, you’ll find a perfect fit here.

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