"Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival" where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing-or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic."
What are your favorite first lines? How do your own WIPs start?
Before I discovered Absolute Write and all of the fabulous and helpful writing blogs, Google was where I went to find writing advice. No matter what I searched--writing tips, advice for writers, novels r kewl can i write 1?--I always found this piece of advice among the articles I read: have a good opening line. It made sense. After all, I wouldn't want a bad opening line.
So, I'd run to my room and read the first line of all my books. Seriously. Some were better than others, but as a whole, I was pretty underwhelmed. These were books I loved, yet their opening lines, though never bad, were never particularly good.
Their first paragraphs and pages, however, were fantastic.
When this topic came up on my blogroll, my mind went blank. There were no first lines that I'd stored in the back of my mind because they were so brilliant. Heck, no book titles even came to mind. I'm in my dorm room, so I couldn't raid my bookshelf like I used to for opening lines (and I so would've if I was at home), but I did look at the first lines of the library books I have in my room. One stood out to me, from Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson:
"So she tells me, the words dribbling out with cranberry muffin crumbs, commas dunked in her coffee."
The images this line creates are insane. It's so vivid. But, I'd love this line no matter where it was placed in the book. My opinion of the book would not have changed had the second line ("She tells me in four sentences. No, five.") had been the opening line.
Truth is, I don't really care about opening lines. Sure, it's good to have a good line like Anderson does, but it's good to have good lines throughout the novel. For me, if I'm hooked in the first couple pages, I'm good. A killer opening line helps that, but a couple of solid, engaging paragraphs help more.
All that said, I know that opening lines are incredibly important to some, so I do work harder at them than I do other lines. Here's the first line of Building Forts:
"Anyone who lives as much as he does would die."
What do you guys think? Do opening lines matter to you? What are your favourites? Let me know!
9 comments:
seriously though, for someone who doesnt put much stock in first lines, yours rocks *is jealous*
novels r kewl can i write 1?
Ha.
And I agree -- they should all be good lines.
Gah, ich muss read Wintergirls, clearly I'm missing out on something good!!
Ps. Your opening line is one of the things I'd insert into the song 'Jizz in my pants'. I didn't want to be blunt...but...
XD
"novels r kewl can i write 1?" LOL. And I agree, some of my favorite books have really underwhelming first lines. But obviously I got past it. Thinking of that takes a little bit of pressure off. And I like your first line a lot!
Definitely a future-classic first line, Bri! But I agree that I'm probably looking more at the first page as a whole when I crack open a book in the library or bookstore.
Love your first line! It's so deep.
Karla - Thank you!
Abby - I'm glad you enjoy how obnoxiously I typed when I was twelve. 4REALZ.
Caitlin - Wintergirls wasn't really my thing, though I'll never deny that it's a brilliant book. The prose is gorgeous, as the first line indicates. LOL I'm flattered :)
Sarah - Thank you! Yes, it's definitely reassuring.
Angelica - Aw, thanks!
Kailtin - Thanks so much!
I totally agree that a good first line should be supported by a great first paragraph and first page. That said, I can't wait to see what comes after your first line--it's really good!
Post a Comment