meme: first lines
Gacked from st_aurafina and others: Post the first line from your 25 most recent fanfics and try to find a pattern.
25 fics in reverse chronological order (youngest fics first), bringing me back almost two years:
1. As of yet unnamed Doctor Who fic: "I don't know why it bothers me so much," Jack said, running his fingers through his hair.
2. Signs Missed (Psych): Gus leaned back on his office chair and gave a deep, satisfied sigh, grinning broadly.
3. An Exercise in Trust (Lost): The beach didn't lend itself well to stomping, but Sawyer's quick strides had a definite angry quality to them.
4. Press Gang drabble #1:
"I'm telling you," Lynda said, "you're overestimating Spike's technique.
5. Press Gang drabble #2: "You know," Spike said, "since it's my birthday, I wondered if you'd do something for me."
6. Emily of New Moon drabble: "Can we replace the third poem for the recital?" Ilse asked.
7. Some Secret Delight (Anne of Green Gables): Katherine Brooke was not a well-liked teacher, but she was competent.
8. The New New Yorker (Doctor Who/Beauty and the Beast): "I need to have a chat with an old friend of mine," the Doctor had said.
9. Drawn In (Angel - Birthdayverse): When Gunn stepped out onto the street from the bar and found his mother already missing, it sent his heart straight up into his mouth.
10.Gabriels hem (Jerusalem): Det tycktes Hök Gabriel, som att Dalälven blev allt vackrare för vart år sedan hans hemkomst.
11. The Thorns of Ambrose (The Young Riders): There was a definite downside to travelling with newlyweds, Jimmy found out.
12. Preparations (Jake 2.0): "These three," Lou said, pointing at the pictures on the screen, "we don't know much about.”
13.I Have Seen the Others (Power of Three): Hafny crossed his arms and looked at the caterpillars in disgust.
14.All Your Cares Beguile (The Stand): "The crowd pushed me into the fence so hard, I thought I was a goner."
15.Typing and Temptations (Reaper): "Sam!" Ted said, passing through the aisle where Sock had just engaged Sam in a game of catch.
16. What Country, Friends, Is This? (Heroes): He woke up on a cold dock, wet and shivering, with the mother of all headaches.
17. Four Walls (Aliens in America): After a year of coming home to the smell of sauces just a tad too rich, and to his grandmother stirring with his mother's spoons in his mother's bowls, Raja grows to hate his home.
18.Gladys Goes Kamikaze (A Sudden Wild Magic): Lawrence had planted the last onion and was patting the ground firmly when a wolf whistle came from behind.
19. Seconds, Changes, Second Chances (Heroes): Ando studies Hiro, this new Hiro who's as grim and hard as the future he's inhabiting.
20. The Katta Sue (Supernatural): "Natalia?" the young woman said, her well-shaped mouth curving into a smile and her blue eyes sparkling with humour and intelligence.
21. Hunters and Old Ladies (Supernatural/The Wind on the Moon): "Dude, they're split from crotch to chest," Dean said, leafing through the autopsy reports.
22.Not the First Date (The Time-Traveler's Wife): Saturday, July 18, 1987 (Henry is 32, Clare is 16)
Clare: I'm waiting for Henry in the Meadow, and I use the time waiting to work through everything in my head, trying to find the most persuasive angle.
23.A Tris is Still a Tris (All Creatures Great and Small: The Hendersons had never been among my favourites.
24. Now Ashes Rise in My Footprints (Supernatural): At first, John focuses on the little tasks: sleeping, eating, changing Sammy's diapers, talking to policemen and firemen, punching a reporter in the face because no comments means no comments, damn it.
25. Fray (Angel - Birthdayverse): Wes had strewn books all over the table.
Conclusions: Ten first lines have dialogue. This fits, since dialogue is the part of fic I find easiest to write. Of the remaining, nine have an in media res beginning. Only six start with some sort of setup/exposition. For the most part, I like to get straight into the story and save the infodumps for later. :-) Though it's not evident from these first lines, most of my stories are really linear, with background put in dialogue and thought rather than as actual flashbacks & similar.
Most of the stories without dialogue in the first line have a very tight POV, in some cases first person. The Birthdayverse stories are exceptions to this, since they all have more than one POV, even if Gunn has taken over more and more lately. :-) All present-tense fics are also in this category. I think I have a specific mindset for ”character introspection” that makes me less likely to start the fic with dialogue. (Checking my current works in progress, the two first-person original fics don't start with dialogue, nor does the Buffy fic that uses the Birthdayverse model of close but rotating POV. The less introspective Batman fic does start with dialogue.)
As for good or not good, I think a lot of them work well, in that they either introduce an important fic theme, or raises questions, or both. 13, 14, 16, 21 and 24 are the ones I think work best.
Of the weaker ones, 2, 6, 7, 8 and 12 aren't bad, but could be better. 15 is character-typical, but doesn't really say anything important. 23 and 25 are rather bland.
1 is interesting is that it does introduce an important theme, but not in the subject Jack is actually talking about. And that didn't even occur to me until right now. :-)
25 fics in reverse chronological order (youngest fics first), bringing me back almost two years:
1. As of yet unnamed Doctor Who fic: "I don't know why it bothers me so much," Jack said, running his fingers through his hair.
2. Signs Missed (Psych): Gus leaned back on his office chair and gave a deep, satisfied sigh, grinning broadly.
3. An Exercise in Trust (Lost): The beach didn't lend itself well to stomping, but Sawyer's quick strides had a definite angry quality to them.
4. Press Gang drabble #1:
"I'm telling you," Lynda said, "you're overestimating Spike's technique.
5. Press Gang drabble #2: "You know," Spike said, "since it's my birthday, I wondered if you'd do something for me."
6. Emily of New Moon drabble: "Can we replace the third poem for the recital?" Ilse asked.
7. Some Secret Delight (Anne of Green Gables): Katherine Brooke was not a well-liked teacher, but she was competent.
8. The New New Yorker (Doctor Who/Beauty and the Beast): "I need to have a chat with an old friend of mine," the Doctor had said.
9. Drawn In (Angel - Birthdayverse): When Gunn stepped out onto the street from the bar and found his mother already missing, it sent his heart straight up into his mouth.
10.Gabriels hem (Jerusalem): Det tycktes Hök Gabriel, som att Dalälven blev allt vackrare för vart år sedan hans hemkomst.
11. The Thorns of Ambrose (The Young Riders): There was a definite downside to travelling with newlyweds, Jimmy found out.
12. Preparations (Jake 2.0): "These three," Lou said, pointing at the pictures on the screen, "we don't know much about.”
13.I Have Seen the Others (Power of Three): Hafny crossed his arms and looked at the caterpillars in disgust.
14.All Your Cares Beguile (The Stand): "The crowd pushed me into the fence so hard, I thought I was a goner."
15.Typing and Temptations (Reaper): "Sam!" Ted said, passing through the aisle where Sock had just engaged Sam in a game of catch.
16. What Country, Friends, Is This? (Heroes): He woke up on a cold dock, wet and shivering, with the mother of all headaches.
17. Four Walls (Aliens in America): After a year of coming home to the smell of sauces just a tad too rich, and to his grandmother stirring with his mother's spoons in his mother's bowls, Raja grows to hate his home.
18.Gladys Goes Kamikaze (A Sudden Wild Magic): Lawrence had planted the last onion and was patting the ground firmly when a wolf whistle came from behind.
19. Seconds, Changes, Second Chances (Heroes): Ando studies Hiro, this new Hiro who's as grim and hard as the future he's inhabiting.
20. The Katta Sue (Supernatural): "Natalia?" the young woman said, her well-shaped mouth curving into a smile and her blue eyes sparkling with humour and intelligence.
21. Hunters and Old Ladies (Supernatural/The Wind on the Moon): "Dude, they're split from crotch to chest," Dean said, leafing through the autopsy reports.
22.Not the First Date (The Time-Traveler's Wife): Saturday, July 18, 1987 (Henry is 32, Clare is 16)
Clare: I'm waiting for Henry in the Meadow, and I use the time waiting to work through everything in my head, trying to find the most persuasive angle.
23.A Tris is Still a Tris (All Creatures Great and Small: The Hendersons had never been among my favourites.
24. Now Ashes Rise in My Footprints (Supernatural): At first, John focuses on the little tasks: sleeping, eating, changing Sammy's diapers, talking to policemen and firemen, punching a reporter in the face because no comments means no comments, damn it.
25. Fray (Angel - Birthdayverse): Wes had strewn books all over the table.
Conclusions: Ten first lines have dialogue. This fits, since dialogue is the part of fic I find easiest to write. Of the remaining, nine have an in media res beginning. Only six start with some sort of setup/exposition. For the most part, I like to get straight into the story and save the infodumps for later. :-) Though it's not evident from these first lines, most of my stories are really linear, with background put in dialogue and thought rather than as actual flashbacks & similar.
Most of the stories without dialogue in the first line have a very tight POV, in some cases first person. The Birthdayverse stories are exceptions to this, since they all have more than one POV, even if Gunn has taken over more and more lately. :-) All present-tense fics are also in this category. I think I have a specific mindset for ”character introspection” that makes me less likely to start the fic with dialogue. (Checking my current works in progress, the two first-person original fics don't start with dialogue, nor does the Buffy fic that uses the Birthdayverse model of close but rotating POV. The less introspective Batman fic does start with dialogue.)
As for good or not good, I think a lot of them work well, in that they either introduce an important fic theme, or raises questions, or both. 13, 14, 16, 21 and 24 are the ones I think work best.
Of the weaker ones, 2, 6, 7, 8 and 12 aren't bad, but could be better. 15 is character-typical, but doesn't really say anything important. 23 and 25 are rather bland.
1 is interesting is that it does introduce an important theme, but not in the subject Jack is actually talking about. And that didn't even occur to me until right now. :-)