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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
What are some first lines to novels/stories/fanfic that you like?
"The ghoul lady takes out her white linen handkerchief and uses one corner to dab at her watering left eye. It's an old wound, a relic of her spent and reckless youth, but it still bothers her sometimes, especially when the weather Above is wet." -- Daughter of Hounds, Caitlin R. Kiernan
It's actually that first paragraph that I love. I love the how it layers imagery, building this picture and atmosphere.
"Once upon a time, in a kingdom now swallowed by the earth, there lived a beautiful princess.
…
Two vampires walk out of an apocalypse.
…
This is not a story, because it has no beginning." -- All Ways,
"There she is, at this convergence of realities, her face reflected back at her, lit red, by the control panel. Her eyes are stars, there, big and dark, cold and dying black dwarves. She ignores they way they say to her, "You've torn everything apart." - Pretend it Means Fate, Ellen Milholand
What are some first lines to novels/stories/fanfic that you remember off the top of your head?
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife". Right off the top of my head, always. It's the only thing that I probably remember the actual words of and not just the general idea.
What's your favorite first line you've written?
That is damn near impossible to answer because first lines are my favorites and don't change all that much when I start writing. That said:
"Between dreams of Thanksgiving and Cordelia, the blood of his son on his lips and the snap of precious bones beneath his hands, Angel dreams of curious girls with sea-kelp tangled in their hair and large, seal-black eyes, shiny and round.">When in Dreams I See Her
What's the first line you've spent the most time on?
I spend almost no time on first lines. They're usually the one thing that I'm pretty sure of. However! The Light Before We Land, recently revised back to its original working title (One Thousand Kisses Deep) was worked and worked and re-worked numerous times, possibly to the detriment of the fic as a whole which was shaky to begin with: "The Sunnydale Quake of '03 was a blip on the map next to the sight of dragons over the steel and concrete L.A jungle."
What's your least favorite first line you've written?
"Wendy huddles into the warmth of Hook’s embrace, mesmerized by the rumbling bass of his voice and the bewildered tattoo of his heart beating frantically against her back." -- The Seduction of Wendy Darling: a tragedy in three parts Just never liked the line.