(no subject)
Snagged from crowgirl13
Post the first line from your 25 most recent fanfics and try to find a pattern.
1. There was too much else to say as the helicopter moved toward the freighter, lighter now.
2. Sawyer doesn't believe everything has moved.
3. He doesn't really understand how much Gaius has changed until the first time they frak after-after everything.
4. Brendon comes awake suddenly.
5. Everyone's scared of Ryan Ross.
6. She stops wearing a bra on stage in Kansas City.
7. "Dance with me," Brendon bellows over the pulsing beat.
8. Sometimes Brendon likes to hold him down.
9. Life looks better through a glass of glowing golden liquor, Brendon decides.
10. It's not like he remembers much about getting bottled, not exactly.
11. Spencer isn't a cuddler.
12. Ryan calls him at 4:30 in the goddamn morning to tell him about Pretty.Odd. going gold.
13. Secretly, Jon believed camping on the beach would be a disaster.
14. Ryan kind of hates how everyone acts so fucking nonchalant about him and Spencer's marriage.
15. Frank is not one of those guys who looks like sex personified when he smokes.
16. Lee didn't like the idea of allowing the Cylons to be a part of the colonial government.
17. He combs the knots out of her long brown hair with his fingers.
18. She likes the way the night sky looks from the surface of the planet, of any planet.
19. Spencer fucking hates these guys and their patently retarded claims on gayness, their Gay Above the Waist bullshit.
20. The thing is, it's easy to get Starbuck to flirt with you.
21. Showboat totally kicked her ass at Triad once.
22. It's the anonymity that bothers Sam.
23. It's days before Maggie gets to go down to the planet.
24. He spends too much time on the surface.
25. The air is cold and heavy, carrying salt and sulphur.
Self-analysis, hmm...
A. I think of myself as wordy, but I'm oddly terse in opening sentences.
B. I'm apparently addicted to description, usually in declarative sentences and related to a person's personality or behavior. Lots of X is/isn't Y. Sometimes also thoughts, or thoughts related in third person (in free indirect discourse style): Person X feeling verbs Y. Seriously, 1/5 of these stories start out with the basic fact that someone likes/dislikes something!
C. Only one story begins with a sentence describing atmosphere/landscape: 25
I suspect this is because, despite my obsession with the single narrative scene, my fic is always always always thinky, and where thinky is, there will be less description of things outside a person's head, especially not to lead off the story.
D. Only 9 stories begin with sentences that are actually narrative: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 12, 17, 21, 23, and probably 24. And some of those aren't purely narrative--they are also doing other things, like describing.
Once again, this is probably a product of my thinkyness. And talkyness. Time spent on thinking/talking means less narrative and more dialogue or use of the narrative voice to relate of extra-narrative things, like thoughts, feelings, trends in behavior, conditions of being, big ideas, etc.
E. Sex comes up 6 times. In the first freaking sentence of the story! Perhaps I write a lot about sex? *giggles*
F. I cursed in 5 of them, if you count futuristic cursing.
G. Only one first sentence involved dialogue! Isn't dialogue what teachers tell you to use to draw your reader in? Apparently, I fail at engaging the reader. :)
~
Yay! That was fun. I never told you all, did I, that I'm studying honest to God narrative theory/analysis right now, for my exams and for my dissertation? If you ever want me to tell you picky-ass things about your narrative style, I'd be happy to do some nerdy amateur narrative analysis on it for you. Don't worry, though--it's nothing I normally pay attention to when I read. I read fanfic for fun, appreciating good writing without stopping to analyze it. I'm just saying I could. And I will, if you want.
Post the first line from your 25 most recent fanfics and try to find a pattern.
1. There was too much else to say as the helicopter moved toward the freighter, lighter now.
2. Sawyer doesn't believe everything has moved.
3. He doesn't really understand how much Gaius has changed until the first time they frak after-after everything.
4. Brendon comes awake suddenly.
5. Everyone's scared of Ryan Ross.
6. She stops wearing a bra on stage in Kansas City.
7. "Dance with me," Brendon bellows over the pulsing beat.
8. Sometimes Brendon likes to hold him down.
9. Life looks better through a glass of glowing golden liquor, Brendon decides.
10. It's not like he remembers much about getting bottled, not exactly.
11. Spencer isn't a cuddler.
12. Ryan calls him at 4:30 in the goddamn morning to tell him about Pretty.Odd. going gold.
13. Secretly, Jon believed camping on the beach would be a disaster.
14. Ryan kind of hates how everyone acts so fucking nonchalant about him and Spencer's marriage.
15. Frank is not one of those guys who looks like sex personified when he smokes.
16. Lee didn't like the idea of allowing the Cylons to be a part of the colonial government.
17. He combs the knots out of her long brown hair with his fingers.
18. She likes the way the night sky looks from the surface of the planet, of any planet.
19. Spencer fucking hates these guys and their patently retarded claims on gayness, their Gay Above the Waist bullshit.
20. The thing is, it's easy to get Starbuck to flirt with you.
21. Showboat totally kicked her ass at Triad once.
22. It's the anonymity that bothers Sam.
23. It's days before Maggie gets to go down to the planet.
24. He spends too much time on the surface.
25. The air is cold and heavy, carrying salt and sulphur.
Self-analysis, hmm...
A. I think of myself as wordy, but I'm oddly terse in opening sentences.
B. I'm apparently addicted to description, usually in declarative sentences and related to a person's personality or behavior. Lots of X is/isn't Y. Sometimes also thoughts, or thoughts related in third person (in free indirect discourse style): Person X feeling verbs Y. Seriously, 1/5 of these stories start out with the basic fact that someone likes/dislikes something!
C. Only one story begins with a sentence describing atmosphere/landscape: 25
I suspect this is because, despite my obsession with the single narrative scene, my fic is always always always thinky, and where thinky is, there will be less description of things outside a person's head, especially not to lead off the story.
D. Only 9 stories begin with sentences that are actually narrative: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 12, 17, 21, 23, and probably 24. And some of those aren't purely narrative--they are also doing other things, like describing.
Once again, this is probably a product of my thinkyness. And talkyness. Time spent on thinking/talking means less narrative and more dialogue or use of the narrative voice to relate of extra-narrative things, like thoughts, feelings, trends in behavior, conditions of being, big ideas, etc.
E. Sex comes up 6 times. In the first freaking sentence of the story! Perhaps I write a lot about sex? *giggles*
F. I cursed in 5 of them, if you count futuristic cursing.
G. Only one first sentence involved dialogue! Isn't dialogue what teachers tell you to use to draw your reader in? Apparently, I fail at engaging the reader. :)
~
Yay! That was fun. I never told you all, did I, that I'm studying honest to God narrative theory/analysis right now, for my exams and for my dissertation? If you ever want me to tell you picky-ass things about your narrative style, I'd be happy to do some nerdy amateur narrative analysis on it for you. Don't worry, though--it's nothing I normally pay attention to when I read. I read fanfic for fun, appreciating good writing without stopping to analyze it. I'm just saying I could. And I will, if you want.