Suspense is not the same as not knowing where your plot is going.

Hooking the Reader

First line hooks from most to least effective:

1 - QUESTION - "Where’s Papa going with that Ax?" from E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web is one of the best opening lines ever.  You want to plant a question in the reader’s mind.

2. - DIALOGUE - "Men are the most arrogant, helpless and stupid creatures on earth."  Once again the reader wants to know why.

3 - INTROSPECTION - "I always wondered what it would be like to jump off a building."  The contrast of danger and calmness is somewhat compelling.

4 - ACTION - "Leighton scanned the new green of the hayfield from the back of his cantering horse."

5 - SETTING - "It was night and Daniel was hanging over the heaving side of the Little Sarah felling rather unwell."

6 - OMNISCIENT - "Two riders moved up the road through a light rain."