"What the h#!! is it with Vampires and S&M clubs?!"
"At what point does the human mind break?"
I agree with your teacher. Because after the first line / paragraph I can always tell if I'm going to like the book or not.
There’s a certain sound the human head makes when it hits the trunk of a tree.
Well, if you're putting them down after the first para if you don't like the first para, that kind of biases the sampling method, no ?
Some stories want quiet starts that draw you in gradually. It's not a flaw, whereas forcing a slam-bang hook on a story that does not want it is.
One I've never seen used: "All this touchy-feely stuff was making my ass itch." If that doesn't catch your attention, nothing will. ;D
I would politely ask your permission, as the creative owner of that line, if I may write something starting with that line ;D
If you can stomach it, you can have it with my blessings. I simply exude that kind of junk. ;D
My favorite ending line in a book is "In the Dawn of a new world, Damien Vryce smiled". Mucho Brownie points to anyone who knows the book.
Personally the last line doesn't bother me as long as the book ties up everything in the story.
OK, something that has been bugging me since my creative writing class way back my first year of college. Figured I'd ask it here.I love the first line to Proven Guilty "Blood doesn't stain a warden's cloak" or whatever. I'm not really good in the first line department though...
How much weight do you think the first line of a book carries?
Jims books have never failed to have a seriously awesome first line/paragraph that locks me into the book until it's done. and my Teacher in Creative Writing was practically a nazi regarding the first line (in fact the only reason I passed the class was she liked my first lines)
in the spirit of the topic, I subject a few the the first sentences from my stories....
"It is a little known fact that dragons like to snuggle."
"What the h#!! is it with Vampires and S&M clubs?!"
"At what point does the human mind break?"
"One would think magic coming back into the world would be a great thing."
"I would not think that, waking up this morning, that today would be the last day of my life on earth."
thoughts/suggestions? maybe toss a few of your first lines out?
Captain Jason M. Craz, on a normal day, would have completely tolerated the gossips of his friend Olis Neemar.
As I watched as the first black ball of hellfire streak by me, my first reaction was to wish I’d believed in something with a happy afterlife.[/i]
Maybe, at some point before all this, I’d wanted to be the kind of reporter who toppled corrupt governments. Back there in the long ago when I’d been bushy haired and thought my couple of inches in the campus rag would change the world.
A big fat vampire wanted to hire me, and who was I to disagree?
Please, God, do serial killers drive Fords after midnight?
Oh, and for favourite first lines, why hasn't this one appeared yet?
"The building was on fire, and it wasn't my fault."
Thinking of one of these for the opening line for my book
I really regret not running over the lawyer when I had a chance.
Beware of lawyers bearing inheritances.
It may not be for everyone, but I sometimes enjoy the books that start with a few lines of verse (song/poem), excerpt of imaginary quotes from some character, etc. Sometimes it can set the mood of the world without having to leap right into the action or characters.
What I hate are series' such as Wheel of Time (loved the books but hated the openings) that start the same every time "the wheel turns and ages come and go and this wasn't the beginning but it was a beginning and I think ill just skip the first paragraph.
But the WoT books always start with a quote, a verse or a prologue, well before "The Wheel of Time turns..."
*scratches head*
True true, and I read every long winded word of those books, loving every minute. But that opening bit got real old real quick for me *shrugs*
*shrugs right back* I dunno; that never bothered me, especially how he would slip in that little bit about where the wind was coming from to set up the chapter. The man could write like nobody's business; it takes someone like Jim, writing equally well in a totally different style, to catch my readerly interest so much.Never said it makes sense or anything, it was just a little pet peeve of mine i guess.
Never said it makes sense or anything, it was just a little pet peeve of mine i guess.
As to Robert Jordan himself, I miss him, all the great things he could have written *hangs head in silence for a moment* :'(
"It was a stark and dormy night at Miskatonic U."
"It was a stark and dormy night at Miskatonic U.";D
Awesome. This gives me a great big gift basket full of demonic happy. I wanna read the rest of that story, Liz.
"It was a stark and dormy night at Miskatonic U."
It was a beautiful, starry night, and whoever was in charge of Meteorological Omens needed an old-fashioned ass-kicking. I mean, if you can't rely on the weather for classic dramatic clichés telling you to get it in gear, it's too easy to get caught with your metaphorical pants around your figurative ankles.
Or, in my case, literal pants around actual ankles. Not a dignified position in which to start Armageddon, even a baby Armageddon. In a way, though, it was awfully convenient, because seeing Gabriel himself getting bitch-slapped through your very own, previously-unentered-by-supernatural-beings bathroom window is fairly likely to cause a reaction that makes having a toilet right there a very good thing. A very good thing.
For the Win! ;D
Is there more of that story?
With good reason - I think Good Omens may be the funniest novel I've ever read. Combine that with Jim-style snark and it's just what I want to grow up to be. ;)
I'm much more a last line guy. A lot of times, overtly elaborate hooks can feel artificial -- especially since, as first lines, they have to work before the reader knows anything about the fictional world. IMO, a good first line is three things: Informative about the story or character, promises conflict, and reads smoothly.
It really depends on whether the writer/editor/agent/publisher/etc. is hanging the whole shebang on one thing. Want to get 'em to buy and read the book? You need a good first line/paragraph.
This is really not necessarily true; or at least, of the agents and editors I've talked to about this, the consensus is, if it's worth picking up in the first place, it's worth reading the first chapter/thirty-to-forty pages of, specifically because not every shape of story starts with a hook or wants to.
I rolled over onto my side, groaning.
I gritted my teeth as the sludgy water drew up around my mid thighs.
The Deliverator belongs to an elite order, a hallowed subcategory. He's got esprit up to here. Right now, he is preparing to carry out his third mission of the night. His uniform is black as activated charcoal, filtering the very light out of the air. A bullet will bounce off its arachnofiber weave like a wren hitting a patio door, but excess perspiration wafts through it like a breeze through a freshly napalmed forest. Where his body has bony extremities, the suit has sintered armorgel: feels like gritty jello, protects like a stack of telephone books.
How important was the first sentence alone? Sometimes very, sometimes not, but something had to catch my interest rather than leaving me feeling like I should buy another book instead. Why not give your best shot at catching a reader’s interest at the first opportunity if you can?