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I want to talk about opening lines!
Whenever I think of first lines I think of Melanie in the Gone With The Wind movie. At one point she starts reading David Copperfield, and it goes something like this: "To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I am born."
That's actually the second line. The actual first line of David Copperfield is this: "Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show."
I bring this up because one of my actual favorite first lines is: "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probablywant to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth." Which is from Catcher In The Rye. I quite like Catcher, but it is not my favorite book. But I do love this line, and remember very distinctly picking up the book in the bookstore and reading this line. This was my reaction:
1. I did not know you were allowed to start a book in that way!
2. He said crap!
3. Geez I really want to read this now.
4. Geez, I also really want to read David Copperfield.
. . . I was a conflicted child.
Anyway, here are some questions I thought up, because I'm interested in first lines, and want to know what first lines people think of when they think of first lines, and what first lines people like!
What are some first lines to novels/stories/fanfic that you like?
What are some first lines to novels/stories/fanfic that you remember off the top of your head?
What's your favorite first line you've written?
What's the first line you've spent the most time on?
What's your least favorite first line you've written?
Also, here is a first lines of English "classics" quiz!
There are more similar quizzes for other genres here. Which ones did you pick? How did you do?
Here's text to put in comments so you can answer more quickly:
That's actually the second line. The actual first line of David Copperfield is this: "Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show."
I bring this up because one of my actual favorite first lines is: "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probablywant to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth." Which is from Catcher In The Rye. I quite like Catcher, but it is not my favorite book. But I do love this line, and remember very distinctly picking up the book in the bookstore and reading this line. This was my reaction:
1. I did not know you were allowed to start a book in that way!
2. He said crap!
3. Geez I really want to read this now.
4. Geez, I also really want to read David Copperfield.
. . . I was a conflicted child.
Anyway, here are some questions I thought up, because I'm interested in first lines, and want to know what first lines people think of when they think of first lines, and what first lines people like!
What are some first lines to novels/stories/fanfic that you like?
What are some first lines to novels/stories/fanfic that you remember off the top of your head?
What's your favorite first line you've written?
What's the first line you've spent the most time on?
What's your least favorite first line you've written?
Also, here is a first lines of English "classics" quiz!
There are more similar quizzes for other genres here. Which ones did you pick? How did you do?
Here's text to put in comments so you can answer more quickly:
no subject
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" bellowed Spike, and burst into flames. -- Armadillo (it makes me laugh.)
What's the first line you've spent the most time on?
When the Midsummer sun sank down behind the tower, behind the mountains, the revellers lit strings of lanterns by the lawn, the feast tables and the dancing floor, but when they called upon the king and queen to lead another Elvish bransle, the newlyweds were nowhere to be found. -- The Still Point (gah, and I don't even like it; it's purple as hell. I couldn't figure out where to start the story, and defaulted to the most conservative location possible.)
What's your least favorite first line you've written?
Buffy didn't say much about Spike right after he died. -- So This Is How They Are (it's mild and one-track and correctly predicts an insignificant little story by a sad little Buffy fan trying to prove how much Buffy really did love Spike no matter what mean old Joss said so there. I should have let myself give Dawn a snappier voice, but I was brand new to the fandom (only my second, and coming off of Tolkien of all things) and clamping the reins too tightly.)
My favourite meta on the subject is Bear's:
The first line in a book is the second most important line. (The most important line is the last line.) I like the idea you mention, of reading a book with that first sentence as a lens through which the whole thing can be focused.
For me, I have a list of oughtas. (I don't do shoulds, in writing, but I do do oughtas.)
A first line oughta do all these all things:
1) illuminate the theme of the book. This justifies its existence.
2) raise a question. This provides narrative momentum, and brings the reader into the story through the hook of his curiousity. (I theorize that this is the actual mechanism through which a "hook sentence" works. It gets you asking something. Please note, this does not have to be a direct question.
3) begin to develop setting, character, and/or tone.
4) hold the keys to resolution. By which I mean, provide the foundation for circularity or closure.
(http://matociquala.livejournal.com/1027629.html)