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You can have the perfect story plotted out, but starting the writing process can be the hardest part. After all, the opening sentence of a story is often seen as the most important. It can invite the reader into a different world and entice them to explore further.

To celebrate the return of 500 Words, the Radio 2 Breakfast Show's story-writing competition for 5-13 year-olds, we take a look below at some of the most exciting, evocative and just plain brilliant opening sentences of all-time - some of which have been handpicked by the Breakfast team and our 500 Words judges.

Here's a selection of unforgettable opening lines, some of which have been handpicked by Radio 2 presenters and our 500 Words judges...

1. "Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much."

Taken from: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Chosen by: Tina Daheley, newsreader on The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show

2. "Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, “and what is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “without pictures or conversation?”

Taken from: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll

3. "Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything truly wrong, he was arrested."

Taken from: The Trial, by Frank Kafka

4. "A mighty fist of wind socked the balloon in two rapid blows, one-two, the second more vicious than the first."

Taken from: Enduring Love by Ian McEwen

Chosen by: Mike Williams, sports presenter on The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show

5. "All children, except one, grow up."

Taken from: Peter Pan by JM Barrie

Chosen by: Francesca Simon., 500 Words judge

6. "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

Taken from: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

7."The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say.”

Taken from: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Chosen by: Frank Cottrell-Boyce, 500 Words judge

8. "I write this sitting in the kitchen sink."

Taken from: I Capture The Castle, by Dodie Smith

9. "You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings."

Taken from: Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

10. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way."

Taken from: A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens