first sentence meme
9/14/06-Upon Seeing Hamlet http://community.livejournal.com/katara_zuko/296265.html
9/17/06-Kirschreiche’s challenge (drabble set) http://community.livejournal.com/katara_zuko/301511.html
9/29/06-Half-Sick of Shadows http://community.livejournal.com/theavatar100/264324.html
10/26/06-Meetings http://community.livejournal.com/queensthief_fic/1277.html
11/03/06-Experiment ch 1 (links for whole fic: http://community.livejournal.com/katara_zuko/538182.html )
12/04/06-Doubt http://community.livejournal.com/theavatar100/289369.html
2/10/07-Shuffle Challenge (drabble set) http://community.livejournal.com/katara_zuko/601171.html
3/04/07-In Her Head http://community.livejournal.com/queensthief_fic/3230.html
3/22/07-Imprisoned Thoughts http://community.livejournal.com/katara_zuko/662018.html
4/22/07-Sight http://community.livejournal.com/theavatar100/335398.html
5/16/07-Beauty http://community.livejournal.com/queensthief_fic/4821.html
5/19/07-Rainbow http://community.livejournal.com/katara_zuko/719063.html
9/19/07-The First http://community.livejournal.com/theavatar100/360302.html
11/26/07-Just Breathe http://community.livejournal.com/katara_zuko/900709.html
1/13/08-Each to Each http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4010913/1/Each_to_Each
1/24/08-Typical http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4031555/1/Typical
3/19/08-Not Yet By Lightning http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4142011/1/Not_Yet_by_Lightning
7/23/08ish-Zutara Week ’08 (drabble set) http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4795740/1/Zutara_Week_08
7/26/09-In Which Katara is Tied to a Tree http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5251753/1/In_Which_Katara_is_Tied_to_a_Tree
1) He walked among his city’s streets, and marveled at the difference a few short hours could make.
2) "Why? Why did you kill him?" the king demanded, his voice low and harsh.
3) The North Star is fixed; it doesn’t move, and Aang cannot for the life of him figure out how Sokka manages to get so off course during the night.
4) A brush of hands when no one's looking; a stifled giggle during an unseen game of footsie; kisses and whispers in the alcoves where the flickering torchlight barely penetrates the darkness; muffled groans behind bedroom curtains backlit by scented candles-
5) It was a rare time when Gen was in the boys’ dormitory alone, and it usually wasn’t a good thing.
6) They face each other in shadowy circumstances as they have done countless times before.
7) He sits on the edge of the bed, shoving his shaking hands through his hair, sticking it together in sweaty clumps, pale skin completely exposed, gleaming, in the moonlight.
8) This second battle was more of a dance than the first; both were more fluid in their movements, more sure of what they were trying to do.
9) Heiro would never really admit how much she liked dancing with the king.
10) Katara wasn’t sure why she was here, down in the dark, dripping dungeons of the Fire Nation palace complex.
11) It was a normal day, full of normal activities: harassing a few Fire Nation passers-by, eating lunch in the crook of a tall oak.
12) She sits at her desk, recopying a message for the fourth time.
13) There is a rainbow.
14) They speak, reverential awe in their every word.
15) “I have to do this.”/ She wandered through the halls of the empty Fire Nation palace.
16) “True love’s kiss,” the stranger (Robert? Robert maybe. Or Ronald. Ronald? No, not Ronald, must be Robert) said, gesturing at the sleeping (oh he hoped she was only sleeping oh please oh please only be sleeping) girl on the couch.
17) Perin Brestol was young-younger than she’d ever admit to most of the people under her command-but that didn’t make her stupid.
18) The Sunken Flagon was, by nature of its location and purpose, the sort of place that attracted a wide variety of people, mostly unsavory and almost always unwashed.
19) Katara has sailed the world and seen its wonders: sunrise at the Northern Air Temple, where the sun comes to eye level, rather than simply passing overhead; the walls of Ba Sing Sei, ultimately indestructible even when the government was not; Aang’s smile, after so many weeks and months of hardship, of setbacks and failures, a sign that perhaps they might survive this intact, if not unscathed.
20) “Search the woods for the boy and meet back here.”
And from my current beta-in-process:
She is young and she is beautiful and she shouldn’t think that he doesn’t know what she’s up to, being young and beautiful and smiling every time she sees him.
Um…I don’t know. It’s weird, because there are things I know like the fact that I become more and more of a comma whore as time goes on, which doesn’t show itself too well here. Oh, I rarely start with dialogue. I-I’m pretty sure I’ve never written a first-person POV fanfic. Or second person, for that matter. Stream-of-consciousness is rare.
I tend to write from girls’ POVs. I started using present tense more and more often (until you get to the last one, which is a 30K fic in present tense). I like using pronouns, and starting off-not in the middle of things, but by mentioning things in a way that indicates this has been going on for a while. Implying background, or summing up the “between the last episode and this fic, this happened.” Creating a setting within the first few words. Consequently, I start more with physical settings or actions, sometimes throwing in the thoughts; I have a couple where I start off with thoughts, but they’re located somewhere specific. (Incidentally, #20 originally started with the line that follows it, but missing the rest of that paragraph; the line that follows it is an action.)
Any thoughts y’all have would be enlightening, as usual. :-)
9/17/06-Kirschreiche’s challenge (drabble set) http://community.livejournal.com/katara_zuko/301511.html
9/29/06-Half-Sick of Shadows http://community.livejournal.com/theavatar100/264324.html
10/26/06-Meetings http://community.livejournal.com/queensthief_fic/1277.html
11/03/06-Experiment ch 1 (links for whole fic: http://community.livejournal.com/katara_zuko/538182.html )
12/04/06-Doubt http://community.livejournal.com/theavatar100/289369.html
2/10/07-Shuffle Challenge (drabble set) http://community.livejournal.com/katara_zuko/601171.html
3/04/07-In Her Head http://community.livejournal.com/queensthief_fic/3230.html
3/22/07-Imprisoned Thoughts http://community.livejournal.com/katara_zuko/662018.html
4/22/07-Sight http://community.livejournal.com/theavatar100/335398.html
5/16/07-Beauty http://community.livejournal.com/queensthief_fic/4821.html
5/19/07-Rainbow http://community.livejournal.com/katara_zuko/719063.html
9/19/07-The First http://community.livejournal.com/theavatar100/360302.html
11/26/07-Just Breathe http://community.livejournal.com/katara_zuko/900709.html
1/13/08-Each to Each http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4010913/1/Each_to_Each
1/24/08-Typical http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4031555/1/Typical
3/19/08-Not Yet By Lightning http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4142011/1/Not_Yet_by_Lightning
7/23/08ish-Zutara Week ’08 (drabble set) http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4795740/1/Zutara_Week_08
7/26/09-In Which Katara is Tied to a Tree http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5251753/1/In_Which_Katara_is_Tied_to_a_Tree
1) He walked among his city’s streets, and marveled at the difference a few short hours could make.
2) "Why? Why did you kill him?" the king demanded, his voice low and harsh.
3) The North Star is fixed; it doesn’t move, and Aang cannot for the life of him figure out how Sokka manages to get so off course during the night.
4) A brush of hands when no one's looking; a stifled giggle during an unseen game of footsie; kisses and whispers in the alcoves where the flickering torchlight barely penetrates the darkness; muffled groans behind bedroom curtains backlit by scented candles-
5) It was a rare time when Gen was in the boys’ dormitory alone, and it usually wasn’t a good thing.
6) They face each other in shadowy circumstances as they have done countless times before.
7) He sits on the edge of the bed, shoving his shaking hands through his hair, sticking it together in sweaty clumps, pale skin completely exposed, gleaming, in the moonlight.
8) This second battle was more of a dance than the first; both were more fluid in their movements, more sure of what they were trying to do.
9) Heiro would never really admit how much she liked dancing with the king.
10) Katara wasn’t sure why she was here, down in the dark, dripping dungeons of the Fire Nation palace complex.
11) It was a normal day, full of normal activities: harassing a few Fire Nation passers-by, eating lunch in the crook of a tall oak.
12) She sits at her desk, recopying a message for the fourth time.
13) There is a rainbow.
14) They speak, reverential awe in their every word.
15) “I have to do this.”/ She wandered through the halls of the empty Fire Nation palace.
16) “True love’s kiss,” the stranger (Robert? Robert maybe. Or Ronald. Ronald? No, not Ronald, must be Robert) said, gesturing at the sleeping (oh he hoped she was only sleeping oh please oh please only be sleeping) girl on the couch.
17) Perin Brestol was young-younger than she’d ever admit to most of the people under her command-but that didn’t make her stupid.
18) The Sunken Flagon was, by nature of its location and purpose, the sort of place that attracted a wide variety of people, mostly unsavory and almost always unwashed.
19) Katara has sailed the world and seen its wonders: sunrise at the Northern Air Temple, where the sun comes to eye level, rather than simply passing overhead; the walls of Ba Sing Sei, ultimately indestructible even when the government was not; Aang’s smile, after so many weeks and months of hardship, of setbacks and failures, a sign that perhaps they might survive this intact, if not unscathed.
20) “Search the woods for the boy and meet back here.”
And from my current beta-in-process:
She is young and she is beautiful and she shouldn’t think that he doesn’t know what she’s up to, being young and beautiful and smiling every time she sees him.
Um…I don’t know. It’s weird, because there are things I know like the fact that I become more and more of a comma whore as time goes on, which doesn’t show itself too well here. Oh, I rarely start with dialogue. I-I’m pretty sure I’ve never written a first-person POV fanfic. Or second person, for that matter. Stream-of-consciousness is rare.
I tend to write from girls’ POVs. I started using present tense more and more often (until you get to the last one, which is a 30K fic in present tense). I like using pronouns, and starting off-not in the middle of things, but by mentioning things in a way that indicates this has been going on for a while. Implying background, or summing up the “between the last episode and this fic, this happened.” Creating a setting within the first few words. Consequently, I start more with physical settings or actions, sometimes throwing in the thoughts; I have a couple where I start off with thoughts, but they’re located somewhere specific. (Incidentally, #20 originally started with the line that follows it, but missing the rest of that paragraph; the line that follows it is an action.)
Any thoughts y’all have would be enlightening, as usual. :-)