I'm starting a meme, join in!
So, today I went to the library and found a really interesting book called Thanks, But This isn't For Us: A (Sort Of) Compassionate Guide to Why Your Writing is Being Rejected.
I haven't read all of it, but I did find an interesting exercise that I'd love to see other people on my f-list try. Which is:
Come up with five opening lines for books you never intend to write. Use different techniques and try out different genres than you usually would. Just make them as interesting and compelling in one line as you can.
So my five were:
1. "Why won't you let me drive?" Allie asked on the way to their next murder.
"Because you're the only person under seventy I've ever seen leave their blinker on for five exits." (murder mystery)
2. When Sierra was ten she got her first job, kissed her first girl, and got in her first fight all in the space of three hours on the first day of school. (Romance)
3. His queen would be dead by noon if he didn't find a new, less worn out horse. (Historical romance)
4. The President's eyes seemed bright but rheumy that day as he leaned on the podium in the sweltering August heat of Washington. (Political thriller)
5. Hades laid his head down in the gloom and let the dead babble around him, then he raised his eyes to the black vaulted ceiling of the cave and suddenly, the dead went silent. (Mythological fantasy)
--
So, hopefully others will choose to play along. It's an interesting exercise in how to sculpt a first line and it actually got me thinking of new ideas. Let me know what you thought of my first five lines and feel free to leave your own first five (or try just one!) lines in comments if you want.
This entry was originally posted at http://megwrites.dreamwidth.org/240211.html, you can comment at: http://megwrites.dreamwidth.org/240211.html?mode=reply or here, comments will be read and responded to at both sites.
I haven't read all of it, but I did find an interesting exercise that I'd love to see other people on my f-list try. Which is:
Come up with five opening lines for books you never intend to write. Use different techniques and try out different genres than you usually would. Just make them as interesting and compelling in one line as you can.
So my five were:
1. "Why won't you let me drive?" Allie asked on the way to their next murder.
"Because you're the only person under seventy I've ever seen leave their blinker on for five exits." (murder mystery)
2. When Sierra was ten she got her first job, kissed her first girl, and got in her first fight all in the space of three hours on the first day of school. (Romance)
3. His queen would be dead by noon if he didn't find a new, less worn out horse. (Historical romance)
4. The President's eyes seemed bright but rheumy that day as he leaned on the podium in the sweltering August heat of Washington. (Political thriller)
5. Hades laid his head down in the gloom and let the dead babble around him, then he raised his eyes to the black vaulted ceiling of the cave and suddenly, the dead went silent. (Mythological fantasy)
--
So, hopefully others will choose to play along. It's an interesting exercise in how to sculpt a first line and it actually got me thinking of new ideas. Let me know what you thought of my first five lines and feel free to leave your own first five (or try just one!) lines in comments if you want.
This entry was originally posted at http://megwrites.dreamwidth.org/240211.html, you can comment at: http://megwrites.dreamwidth.org/240211.html?mode=reply or here, comments will be read and responded to at both sites.