3) “Who is John Galt?” Atlas Shrugged. Sadly, I have not read it. It was a question in the Arts & Literature subject on Trivial Pursuit ;)
8) “To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth.” This sounds so incredibly familiar. I keep thinking Of Mice and Men, but I'm almost sure that's not it. Bugger.
#8 has one of my least favorite last scenes of all time, but more on that when we talk about last lines next week. *g*
First lines are a lot of fun. What are some of your personal first lines? How do you write first lines? Do they worry you or do you just start in with the story?
To be honest I've never really thought about first lines much. I understand that it's a good idea to grab a reader's attention with a line that makes them wonder what's going on, but I don't know whether I succeed at it or if my first lines are more annoying than attention-grabbing ;)
I think my favourite opening line(s) from my previous fandom (Law & Order) was:
========== The law allows for certain defenses to murder.
This is a simple case.
'Extreme emotional disturbance.' What exactly does that justify?
These are the facts of the case. And they are undisputed.Jack sighed as he scratched out that last line. That was from "A Few Good Men," which he and Claire had rented a few days ago. Too bad, because it was a very good line
( ... )
Other than those four, I don't think I'm terribly good at first lines. The first line of my second HP fic, Bond, was '...the hell was that?' the first thought in Harry's head as he comes to.
I think this sounds like a fantastic first line! It would be totally disorienting as a reader, but in a very good way, I think. (Now, of course, I'm going to have to go read the fic....) I like first lines that grab you instantly and make you pay close attention to the story as you figure out all the who/what/wheres.
I don't really worry about first lines much. I've seen great fics start off ho-hum, and really cool first lines devolve to crap, so I kind of expect people to give my own fics at least a paragraph before they decide whether they're worth pursuing.
This is definitely true. First lines aren't always an indicator of the quality of a fic. It makes you think about the purpose of first lines, the impact of them. You obviously can't NOT have a first line of a story, but how much energy should author's put into honing them?
It's amazing how difficult it is to recognize first lines. I was pulling this together, and I was shocked at how unassuming some of the first lines of my favorite lit/fics were. Stories that I love can begin in an altogether ho-hum, forgetable way.
Do you have any first lines you love? Lines that said "Read this now"? First lines that you've written?
Yes, sorry, I was rushing off to class and didn't have time to make a proper post, only the recognitions. *g*
I've always loved the classic, "In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit." As you might surmise from my username. I suspect that line's so well known as to make guessing pointless.
Another first line I'm very fond of is, "The year Janet started at Blackstock College, the Office of Residential Life had spent the summer removing from all the dormitories the old wooden bookcases that, once filled with books, fell over unless wedged." I shall leave that one to be guessed, if anyone wishes to!
From my own HP fic, there are a couple I like quite well:
Even after eight years of being at the Ministry of Magic - three in Auror training and five more in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement - Harry still loathed having to eat lunch in the canteen. From A Question of Time.
"What we really need is a spy," said Ron. From Lead Us Not....But most of my first lines really aren't especially catchy. The second of these isn't
( ... )
1. Pride and Prejudice 2. Charlotte's Web (yay!) 3. Atlas Shrugged 4. Beloved 5. 6. something by Mary Renault? 7. Ender's Game 8. The Grapes of Wrath 9. 10. Rebecca
And of the fanfic, um...I can only guess that #8 is Cybele's "If You Are Prepared?" *g*
Oh wait! #9 has to be dementordelta's Parseltongue-tied
Bravo! I'm so impressed! (And don't you just love the opening of Charlotte's Web? I think it's one of my favorite first lines ever.) Someone else has gotten #5, but no one has gotten #9 yet - and it's one of my favorite books. I'll have to post the answers later....
It's hard to find good first lines; I was amazed at some of the completely indistinctive first lines that are out there, especially for books that I love.
Heh. I *just* added tags to a meme about first lines from 2003. One is a cheat (since it's many lines *g*) and a lot of them seem to have been about death
( ... )
Oh, oh, oh I almost put this on the list. I didn't because (1) it kind of gives it away for the folks who have already read the series and (2) I can't find anyone to gush over the series as much as I do. So I contented myself with Charlotte's Web, Ender's Game, and the mysterious number nine (which is kind of cheating since the book isn't that well known, but I'm rereading it right now, so there.)
"I am old now and have not much to fear from the anger of gods."
I had forgotten about this book! It's an old favorite, so compelling and complex. And it has a great first line. It's hard to find first lines that stand alone when taken out of context.
It's perfectly ok to cheat and "expand" the definition of a first line - I did for dementordelta's fic. *g*
That is a fantastic list of first lines. It made me remember books I've loved and want to read others. Would you be my secret reading buddy? I'm envious of your good taste!
Indeed! The fanfic ones are apparently harder to recognize. I think that's my fault; I tried to pull from a number of pairings/genres so everyone could play. (Because it's no fair if it's all Snarry *g*)
So what are your favorite first lines? Share - published fic or fanfic or your fic! Inquiring minds want to know!
Hee, since I was part of the team translating Aspen's fic into French, I only recognized that line because I beta read that chappie:"S'il y avait une chose que Harry Potter aimait plus que les chocogrenouilles ou les plumes en sucre, c'était de recevoir du courrier de ses amis." I don't think I'd have recognized it otherwise.
As for the most memorable fiction one for me, it's also in French, roughly translates;
Today my mother died. Or maybe it was yesterday. I no longer recall. What a shame that this first line from Albert Camus' "The Stranger" is indelibly etched in my memory, because I truly despise the book.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... Of course, from Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities."
Call me Ishmael. Melville's "Moby Dick."
As for fanfic, my all time fav is If you are prepared... by Cybele. Even typing it makes me shiver.
I'll also add two opening lines by Lychee--I've a definite French bent, but the lines are striking in both languages, especially the one from "Sixty-three Days."
I'm amazed how well my French stood up to this post! I took French before I realized that while I was hopeless at *speaking* languages other than English, I could learn to read them very quickly. I should go back to it.
Odd, I almost added the quote from Camus, but I decided that translations were unfair, because they differ so much. (Otherwise Kafka and Anna Karenina would probably also have made it onto the list.) Although I can't imagine that The Stranger's first line is ever translated that differently; it is simple, direct, and much too well known. I didn't love The Stranger, but I think my reading of it is overshadowed by reading Sartre's Nausea directly afterwords, which made me feel physically ill while I read it. (And yes, it was a class, why do you ask? We followed with Duras' The Lover, and that pretty much wiped out the 16 yo me
( ... )
2) "The Aurors on guard at the scene are drinking champagne straight from the bottle -- giddy and rude now that the throng of morbid onlookers has wandered off into the bleak, small hours." - cluegirl's "Fire and Blood", right? {Unless I mixed them up. Again.}
8) "If you are prepared," he said.” -- IYAP by Cybele, probably.
3, 4 and 10 sound familiar. :)
I recognise Ender's Game from the Books, mainly because I did the first-line meme about a year ago. :D
My own first-liner? Hrrm. Depends on whether we talk Origifiction or Fanfiction. In fanfiction, it was one of the Snarry Olympics attempts: "Severus's target was a teenaged boy." In Origifiction {translated from Hebrew}: "If Gil would have listened to the messages that were left in his answering machine, he would've noticed that most of them were some variation of the following message:
[Gil, it's Danny. I don't know what you're thinking when every week you read the same poem, but I can't help you get published, or even get better, if you don't give me any new material.]Here are some
( ... )
See, I think it's unfair that you got cluegirl's fic, because you know the stories I love. :-)
I'll post the answers for all of them before next discussion - it's fun to see what people recognize!
The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit.
I forgot how much I love that first line. So shudderingly image inducing. The rest of those are great too - you picked ones that really make me want to read the books that I haven't on that list.
I love first liners. :D I bought another Pratchett book {Monstrous Regiment} today, with this opener: "Polly cut off her hair in front of the mirror, feeling slightly guilty about not feeling very guilty abouy doing so."
Comments 104
Atlas Shrugged. Sadly, I have not read it. It was a question in the Arts & Literature subject on Trivial Pursuit ;)
8) “To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth.”
This sounds so incredibly familiar. I keep thinking Of Mice and Men, but I'm almost sure that's not it. Bugger.
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#8 has one of my least favorite last scenes of all time, but more on that when we talk about last lines next week. *g*
First lines are a lot of fun. What are some of your personal first lines? How do you write first lines? Do they worry you or do you just start in with the story?
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I think my favourite opening line(s) from my previous fandom (Law & Order) was:
==========
The law allows for certain defenses to murder.
This is a simple case.
'Extreme emotional disturbance.' What exactly does that justify?
These are the facts of the case. And they are undisputed.Jack sighed as he scratched out that last line. That was from "A Few Good Men," which he and Claire had rented a few days ago. Too bad, because it was a very good line ( ... )
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I think this sounds like a fantastic first line! It would be totally disorienting as a reader, but in a very good way, I think. (Now, of course, I'm going to have to go read the fic....) I like first lines that grab you instantly and make you pay close attention to the story as you figure out all the who/what/wheres.
I don't really worry about first lines much. I've seen great fics start off ho-hum, and really cool first lines devolve to crap, so I kind of expect people to give my own fics at least a paragraph before they decide whether they're worth pursuing.
This is definitely true. First lines aren't always an indicator of the quality of a fic. It makes you think about the purpose of first lines, the impact of them. You obviously can't NOT have a first line of a story, but how much energy should author's put into honing them?
BTW, it ( ... )
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1) Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
5) John Knowles, A Separate Peace
7) Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game
And I do believe I know one of the fanfic ones too:
3) Resonant, Transfigurations
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It's amazing how difficult it is to recognize first lines. I was pulling this together, and I was shocked at how unassuming some of the first lines of my favorite lit/fics were. Stories that I love can begin in an altogether ho-hum, forgetable way.
Do you have any first lines you love? Lines that said "Read this now"? First lines that you've written?
Reply
I've always loved the classic, "In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit." As you might surmise from my username. I suspect that line's so well known as to make guessing pointless.
Another first line I'm very fond of is, "The year Janet started at Blackstock College, the Office of Residential Life had spent the summer removing from all the dormitories the old wooden bookcases that, once filled with books, fell over unless wedged." I shall leave that one to be guessed, if anyone wishes to!
From my own HP fic, there are a couple I like quite well:
Even after eight years of being at the Ministry of Magic - three in Auror training and five more in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement - Harry still loathed having to eat lunch in the canteen. From A Question of Time.
"What we really need is a spy," said Ron. From Lead Us Not....But most of my first lines really aren't especially catchy. The second of these isn't ( ... )
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2. Charlotte's Web (yay!)
3. Atlas Shrugged
4. Beloved
5.
6. something by Mary Renault?
7. Ender's Game
8. The Grapes of Wrath
9.
10. Rebecca
And of the fanfic, um...I can only guess that #8 is Cybele's "If You Are Prepared?" *g*
Oh wait! #9 has to be dementordelta's Parseltongue-tied
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Bravo! I'm so impressed! (And don't you just love the opening of Charlotte's Web? I think it's one of my favorite first lines ever.) Someone else has gotten #5, but no one has gotten #9 yet - and it's one of my favorite books. I'll have to post the answers later....
It's hard to find good first lines; I was amazed at some of the completely indistinctive first lines that are out there, especially for books that I love.
So what are your favorite first lines? Share!
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Oh, oh, oh I almost put this on the list. I didn't because (1) it kind of gives it away for the folks who have already read the series and (2) I can't find anyone to gush over the series as much as I do. So I contented myself with Charlotte's Web, Ender's Game, and the mysterious number nine (which is kind of cheating since the book isn't that well known, but I'm rereading it right now, so there.)
"I am old now and have not much to fear from the anger of gods."
I had forgotten about this book! It's an old favorite, so compelling and complex. And it has a great first line. It's hard to find first lines that stand alone when taken out of context.
It's perfectly ok to cheat and "expand" the definition of a first line - I did for dementordelta's fic. *g*
That is a fantastic list of first lines. It made me remember books I've loved and want to read others. Would you be my secret reading buddy? I'm envious of your good taste!
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So what are your favorite first lines? Share - published fic or fanfic or your fic! Inquiring minds want to know!
Reply
As for the most memorable fiction one for me, it's also in French, roughly translates;
Today my mother died. Or maybe it was yesterday. I no longer recall. What a shame that this first line from Albert Camus' "The Stranger" is indelibly etched in my memory, because I truly despise the book.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... Of course, from Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities."
Call me Ishmael. Melville's "Moby Dick."
As for fanfic, my all time fav is If you are prepared... by Cybele. Even typing it makes me shiver.
I'll also add two opening lines by Lychee--I've a definite French bent, but the lines are striking in both languages, especially the one from "Sixty-three Days."
The first ( ... )
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Odd, I almost added the quote from Camus, but I decided that translations were unfair, because they differ so much. (Otherwise Kafka and Anna Karenina would probably also have made it onto the list.) Although I can't imagine that The Stranger's first line is ever translated that differently; it is simple, direct, and much too well known. I didn't love The Stranger, but I think my reading of it is overshadowed by reading Sartre's Nausea directly afterwords, which made me feel physically ill while I read it. (And yes, it was a class, why do you ask? We followed with Duras' The Lover, and that pretty much wiped out the 16 yo me ( ... )
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8) "If you are prepared," he said.” -- IYAP by Cybele, probably.
3, 4 and 10 sound familiar. :)
I recognise Ender's Game from the Books, mainly because I did the first-line meme about a year ago. :D
My own first-liner? Hrrm. Depends on whether we talk Origifiction or Fanfiction. In fanfiction, it was one of the Snarry Olympics attempts: "Severus's target was a teenaged boy." In Origifiction {translated from Hebrew}: "If Gil would have listened to the messages that were left in his answering machine, he would've noticed that most of them were some variation of the following message:
[Gil, it's Danny. I don't know what you're thinking when every week you read the same poem, but I can't help you get published, or even get better, if you don't give me any new material.]Here are some ( ... )
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I'll post the answers for all of them before next discussion - it's fun to see what people recognize!
The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit.
I forgot how much I love that first line. So shudderingly image inducing. The rest of those are great too - you picked ones that really make me want to read the books that I haven't on that list.
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And Uglies? Pretty. Pretty. Pretty book. :D
|Meduza|
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