my writing, let me show you it.
Here's an old meme, just for kicks: List the first lines of your last twenty stories. See if you find any patterns.
Last time I did this, I only had 21 stories total. So I figure I might as well try it again, because last time I did this was also pre-Supernatural.
01. It has taken much less time to grow old than his last experience in Hell led him to believe.
02. And the next second they're crashing through actual plate glass, what the hell.
03. The pieces are coming together nicely.
04. Dawn is breaking, mother-of-pearl above the shipyards, and Sam has not slept.
05. Grey ribbon of asphalt snaking up the western edge of Missouri, of Iowa, rain-dark from earlier and sparsely populated with trucks.
06. James Sterling is having a quiet, private sort of meltdown in the quiet privacy of his hotel room in Zurich.
07. He wakes quietly.
08. In general, Sam and librarians got on fine
09. As it turned out, the boys were fine.
10. He learned to hand-sew first, before he ever touched a sewing machine.
11. He’s waiting on a phone call, is the thing.
12. Sam woke up lying on his back.
13. He didn’t know.
14. Money’s always tight, even when it isn’t, which means the motels always suck.
15. “Dude, as if that wasn’t you.”
16. It’s cold. Really cold, too cold even to snow.
17. Dean sprained his ankle once, hunting just outside Wichita.
18. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
19. Ming looked up as a lunch tray was set down across from her.
20. Mongolian BBQ. It was Jayne’s idea.
Hmm. Well, seventeen out of the last 20 stories I've posted have been Supernatural fic, with a couple of crossovers tossed in. That's always fun.
I seem to start more or less in medias res, usually with something descriptive. I've definitely gotten a whole lot better over the course of writing SPN fic; I think the first five on the list, which represent my five most recently posted stories, demonstrate a much greater degree of comfort with opening descriptions (with the possible exception of 3, but that's mostly a difference of function rather than comfort level). Enough information that you have a pretty good footing, but not enough to overwhelm.
I'm not sure what else.
Anyone else want to have a crack at pattern-finding? I'm kind of curious how this looks to people who aren't me, and I'm probably missing something obvious.
ADDENDUM: Also, this line, part of a Firefly fic written well before I'd begun watching Supernatural, bears an alarming resemblance to my perception of Sam and Dean:
Kaylee thinks that because Simon has given up everything for River, it’s right for River to be everything to him.
Eh? Eh??
Last time I did this, I only had 21 stories total. So I figure I might as well try it again, because last time I did this was also pre-Supernatural.
01. It has taken much less time to grow old than his last experience in Hell led him to believe.
02. And the next second they're crashing through actual plate glass, what the hell.
03. The pieces are coming together nicely.
04. Dawn is breaking, mother-of-pearl above the shipyards, and Sam has not slept.
05. Grey ribbon of asphalt snaking up the western edge of Missouri, of Iowa, rain-dark from earlier and sparsely populated with trucks.
06. James Sterling is having a quiet, private sort of meltdown in the quiet privacy of his hotel room in Zurich.
07. He wakes quietly.
08. In general, Sam and librarians got on fine
09. As it turned out, the boys were fine.
10. He learned to hand-sew first, before he ever touched a sewing machine.
11. He’s waiting on a phone call, is the thing.
12. Sam woke up lying on his back.
13. He didn’t know.
14. Money’s always tight, even when it isn’t, which means the motels always suck.
15. “Dude, as if that wasn’t you.”
16. It’s cold. Really cold, too cold even to snow.
17. Dean sprained his ankle once, hunting just outside Wichita.
18. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
19. Ming looked up as a lunch tray was set down across from her.
20. Mongolian BBQ. It was Jayne’s idea.
Hmm. Well, seventeen out of the last 20 stories I've posted have been Supernatural fic, with a couple of crossovers tossed in. That's always fun.
I seem to start more or less in medias res, usually with something descriptive. I've definitely gotten a whole lot better over the course of writing SPN fic; I think the first five on the list, which represent my five most recently posted stories, demonstrate a much greater degree of comfort with opening descriptions (with the possible exception of 3, but that's mostly a difference of function rather than comfort level). Enough information that you have a pretty good footing, but not enough to overwhelm.
I'm not sure what else.
Anyone else want to have a crack at pattern-finding? I'm kind of curious how this looks to people who aren't me, and I'm probably missing something obvious.
ADDENDUM: Also, this line, part of a Firefly fic written well before I'd begun watching Supernatural, bears an alarming resemblance to my perception of Sam and Dean:
Kaylee thinks that because Simon has given up everything for River, it’s right for River to be everything to him.
Eh? Eh??