McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
The first line
bleet08:
That was a lot of reading!! I was intrigued to see that the first line was a hook for some, and others it didn't even phase them. I guess it depends on the type of book your picking up to read. Like someone had said, I give it to the first 100 pages, and then go from there. As always, my opener remains locked up. ;D
Spectacular Sameth:
Stone the Apprentice
--- Quote ---I rolled over onto my side, groaning.
--- End quote ---
Stone the Summoner
--- Quote ---I gritted my teeth as the sludgy water drew up around my mid thighs.
--- End quote ---
Both of them are narrated by the girl in my avatar.
LogicMouse:
From Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash: No one I've ever handed this book to has been able to read the first paragraph and then set it down.
--- Quote --- The Deliverator belongs to an elite order, a hallowed subcategory. He's got esprit up to here. Right now, he is preparing to carry out his third mission of the night. His uniform is black as activated charcoal, filtering the very light out of the air. A bullet will bounce off its arachnofiber weave like a wren hitting a patio door, but excess perspiration wafts through it like a breeze through a freshly napalmed forest. Where his body has bony extremities, the suit has sintered armorgel: feels like gritty jello, protects like a stack of telephone books.
--- End quote ---
From a short story I wrote a few months ago and will never publish (Can't, it's the dreaded fanfic):
"I awoke from an old dream of my teeth meeting in a man's throat, and for a moment my mouth was again filled with the taste of hot blood and lingering darkness."
Hoodooed:
Back in the day, when I bought my books in a brick and mortar store, I had a rather consistent pattern for deciding if a book of fiction was worth buying.
A novel I bought had to a) have a catchy title that stuck out on the shelf, b) have a back cover description that actually presented an idea of what the story was about, c) pass the reading of page 1 test where checked to see if the author’s writing and style caught my interest, and d) have a page count justifying the price.
The bookstore had a policy preventing people from standing at the rack reading magazines or books in any detail. They were of the opinion that if you wanted to read it buy it so I was limited in what I could do.
How important was the first sentence alone? Sometimes very, sometimes not, but something had to catch my interest rather than leaving me feeling like I should buy another book instead. Why not give your best shot at catching a reader’s interest at the first opportunity if you can? It’s a bit different with me now that I buy most all of my books online.
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: Hoodooed on April 24, 2008, 03:13:37 AM ---How important was the first sentence alone? Sometimes very, sometimes not, but something had to catch my interest rather than leaving me feeling like I should buy another book instead. Why not give your best shot at catching a reader’s interest at the first opportunity if you can?
--- End quote ---
Because not all stories work that way. Forcing a hook on a story that wants a slow, measured opening does nobody any favours.
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