First Line Meme
Mar. 27th, 2021 06:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
paulamcgOne of my favourite memes, this time snagged from adriennefae!
Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 authors!
I'm leaving out poems, a three-sentence fic, and 100-word drabbles, but including 200-word drabbles and drunk fic, too.
1. Last... or lost? (He's Come Back)
2. "Why don't you just fly away with me?" Luna says lightly over her shoulder when pushing off the ground. (A Promising Find)
3. Having Apparated to the edge of the frozen tarn, Luna breathes in the scarlet of the sunset clouds. (Real and Romantic)
4. Madam was ordering her around again. (Enough to Get Through)
5. "Go ahead, sit down." (New Joys)
6. "Sorry?" Cho steers her broomstick closer to Roger's, as a snow-laden blast has snatched his words. (Less Disappointed Than Relieved)
7. The other teachers must have left the castle earlier – all others who want to brave Hogsmeade on this Saturday when students are allowed to go there. (The Wonders of the Fine Wintry Day)
8. Having left the empty hospital wing behind, Poppy feels like a young girl when she rushes out through the oak doors, breathing in the crisp air. (No Mere Mundane Deer)
9. Arthur Weasley's wife reminds her of Lily. (Festive Mood)
10. “Listen!” James leaves his regular spot on the couch by the fireplace, hurrying to walk over as soon as Sirius has entered through the portrait hole. (Further Sound)
11. Venturing out of the room where he's been huddled against Buckbeak, he can't help fearing he'll be visited by his dead. (More Than a Ghost)
12. There's no doubt about the best way for Sirius fucking Black to begin today's celebrations.(The Rainbow Theme)
13. She wants to keep staring at the golden, lacy border. (From the Oblivion)
14. Steering her brand new Firebolt 2002 up towards the overcast winter sky, Cho chooses to focus for a while on the pleasure of flying. (To Know What She's Seeking)
15. Stay where you are! (The Residue of His Mind)
16. Enjoying the feel of warm, smooth sand under his soles and between his toes, Remus keeps looking down until reaching the concrete steps. (Freedom They Can Reach)
17. At the edge of the orchard the grasses and wildflowers grow tall, and no old trees have sheltered them from the recent downpour. (Bearing Fruit)
18. “Who's that?” What's he talking about? (Who's That?)
19. "The children of the prophecy? No, my friends' sons," Remus remembers replying. (Makes You Feel Young Again)
20. The waxing crescent moon is setting, leaving the stars to burn ever brighter – colder. (The Darkness of This Shore)
I'm a bit alarmed to see how often recently I've started with a sentence that's perhaps too complex. I tend to use a participial phrase for what the pov character is doing or has done, and the main clause for how the character is feeling at the moment – or the other way round. When I open with a line of dialogue, it's brief, and it often has no formal tag. (I've cheated a bit in the cases where the line is only a word or two, and included the following sentence, which reveals the speaker, or what the character is thinking.) When I open with a simple statement, I avoid including the pov character's name. I feel that in this way it sounds more convincingly like a thought in the character's mind. I never italicise thoughts. The single italicised opening line is a sentence the character's writing in a letter.
My favourite is perhaps #8. I think that while it takes us directly to share the pov character's mind (and his name is at the beginning of the second sentence), it shows us efficiently where and when the story is set, perhaps a bit of the mood and a conflict, too, which my openings don't usually do well, I'm afraid.
I'm just tagging anyone who reads my journal and wants to do this.
adriennefae!Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 authors!
I'm leaving out poems, a three-sentence fic, and 100-word drabbles, but including 200-word drabbles and drunk fic, too.
1. Last... or lost? (He's Come Back)
2. "Why don't you just fly away with me?" Luna says lightly over her shoulder when pushing off the ground. (A Promising Find)
3. Having Apparated to the edge of the frozen tarn, Luna breathes in the scarlet of the sunset clouds. (Real and Romantic)
4. Madam was ordering her around again. (Enough to Get Through)
5. "Go ahead, sit down." (New Joys)
6. "Sorry?" Cho steers her broomstick closer to Roger's, as a snow-laden blast has snatched his words. (Less Disappointed Than Relieved)
7. The other teachers must have left the castle earlier – all others who want to brave Hogsmeade on this Saturday when students are allowed to go there. (The Wonders of the Fine Wintry Day)
8. Having left the empty hospital wing behind, Poppy feels like a young girl when she rushes out through the oak doors, breathing in the crisp air. (No Mere Mundane Deer)
9. Arthur Weasley's wife reminds her of Lily. (Festive Mood)
10. “Listen!” James leaves his regular spot on the couch by the fireplace, hurrying to walk over as soon as Sirius has entered through the portrait hole. (Further Sound)
11. Venturing out of the room where he's been huddled against Buckbeak, he can't help fearing he'll be visited by his dead. (More Than a Ghost)
12. There's no doubt about the best way for Sirius fucking Black to begin today's celebrations.(The Rainbow Theme)
13. She wants to keep staring at the golden, lacy border. (From the Oblivion)
14. Steering her brand new Firebolt 2002 up towards the overcast winter sky, Cho chooses to focus for a while on the pleasure of flying. (To Know What She's Seeking)
15. Stay where you are! (The Residue of His Mind)
16. Enjoying the feel of warm, smooth sand under his soles and between his toes, Remus keeps looking down until reaching the concrete steps. (Freedom They Can Reach)
17. At the edge of the orchard the grasses and wildflowers grow tall, and no old trees have sheltered them from the recent downpour. (Bearing Fruit)
18. “Who's that?” What's he talking about? (Who's That?)
19. "The children of the prophecy? No, my friends' sons," Remus remembers replying. (Makes You Feel Young Again)
20. The waxing crescent moon is setting, leaving the stars to burn ever brighter – colder. (The Darkness of This Shore)
I'm a bit alarmed to see how often recently I've started with a sentence that's perhaps too complex. I tend to use a participial phrase for what the pov character is doing or has done, and the main clause for how the character is feeling at the moment – or the other way round. When I open with a line of dialogue, it's brief, and it often has no formal tag. (I've cheated a bit in the cases where the line is only a word or two, and included the following sentence, which reveals the speaker, or what the character is thinking.) When I open with a simple statement, I avoid including the pov character's name. I feel that in this way it sounds more convincingly like a thought in the character's mind. I never italicise thoughts. The single italicised opening line is a sentence the character's writing in a letter.
My favourite is perhaps #8. I think that while it takes us directly to share the pov character's mind (and his name is at the beginning of the second sentence), it shows us efficiently where and when the story is set, perhaps a bit of the mood and a conflict, too, which my openings don't usually do well, I'm afraid.
I'm just tagging anyone who reads my journal and wants to do this.
no subject
Date: 2021-03-28 08:47 pm (UTC)It is really interesting that it is possible to see a pattern. I better try do it myself and see if there's a pattern there too. ;)
no subject
Date: 2021-03-29 03:12 pm (UTC)And yes, do it! I'll be glad to read your opening lines and try to choose my favourite.
no subject
Date: 2021-03-29 05:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-03-29 06:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-03-29 08:34 pm (UTC)Perhaps it just that in a list of first lines it looks like I've got a mannerism with my participial phrases.
It could be because of that. I also feel I have certain mannerisms in my own writing.
And yes, do it!
I will! Probably tomorrow, when my Easter holiday begins. :) My favourite of yours (but it was difficult, because they were all so strong), must be #12.
no subject
Date: 2021-03-30 02:16 pm (UTC)And yes, reading must be essential for all or at least most writers, if not necessarily reading fanfic. Maybe it still shows that I read very little fanfic before developing some such features in my style which I still stick to.
Looking forward to your meme post!