Good post. I’ve thought about this a lot with my novels-in-perpetual-progress. Thought about them way too hard. Then one more, puffy with sleep but with a fairly uncluttered head, sat down and wrote: “They grabbed me just after the final school bell.” And things just sort of unrolled after that.
I am sure you didn’t mean for a casual observer to read because of your drawing, but here I am. I saw the bird on the shovel & my inner bird & mystery lover said - read this- Birds & Mystery = You Can’t Go Wrong 😉
But, then again, perhaps you were well aware of your hook. My “writing skills” classes were all in University (ages ago) when every advanced degree student had to learn to writing properly for your audience. My audience was Scientists so my writing was for peer review or similar groups of STEM Nerds.
Thank you for quite an interesting article & yes, I will definitely read more!
Are you saying you're starting to repeat yourself on the Stack? Ah, bound to happen. First lines ... mmmhhh ... I know that if I think about that first line too much, it's a great way to get stuck and not go anywhere. So, I put it out of my mind. Maybe #1 line will be a banger, cool, maybe it will just do a fair job, and the chances are it will get tweaked when the draft is done. I suspect that's how most great first lines are born ... after the story is finished.
I always tell myself that my first line (or first couple of lines) should set the vibe for the story. Since "vibe" is a word I define without words, it's one of those "I know it when I see/hear it" kinds of things. My least-favorite first lines are ones that sound like they were deliberately crafted to attract attention--clickbait first lines, as it were (although some of them are actually pretty good and succeed in getting my attention). In general, I think too much attention is given to first lines, even though I work pretty hard on most of mine. I wonder if a book that started with "Call me Ishmael" would get past an editor today.
Yes, this exactly. That's why I said writing is hard. They can be really gimmicky, and you never want that.
What I was trying to say was what the line promises about the story - notably in a short story. That's why (as I think M.E. said, sometimes they can't be written until the story is finished.
But your vibe is what I agree with the most. And yes, when you know.
Good post. I’ve thought about this a lot with my novels-in-perpetual-progress. Thought about them way too hard. Then one more, puffy with sleep but with a fairly uncluttered head, sat down and wrote: “They grabbed me just after the final school bell.” And things just sort of unrolled after that.
That is a great first line!
Luke Fishman?
A character in the book keeps calling Fischer the wrong name.
An Easter egg for myself.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I am sure you didn’t mean for a casual observer to read because of your drawing, but here I am. I saw the bird on the shovel & my inner bird & mystery lover said - read this- Birds & Mystery = You Can’t Go Wrong 😉
But, then again, perhaps you were well aware of your hook. My “writing skills” classes were all in University (ages ago) when every advanced degree student had to learn to writing properly for your audience. My audience was Scientists so my writing was for peer review or similar groups of STEM Nerds.
Thank you for quite an interesting article & yes, I will definitely read more!
Hi Gemini - thanks so much for this! I welcome all observers :)
That was some fan art that a reader sent me based on some of my work.
I do like a good group of STEM nerds (I was a huge science geek at one point.)
All the best, cheers!
Craig
Are you saying you're starting to repeat yourself on the Stack? Ah, bound to happen. First lines ... mmmhhh ... I know that if I think about that first line too much, it's a great way to get stuck and not go anywhere. So, I put it out of my mind. Maybe #1 line will be a banger, cool, maybe it will just do a fair job, and the chances are it will get tweaked when the draft is done. I suspect that's how most great first lines are born ... after the story is finished.
It is often after the story is finished. I rarely think about it at the beginning
Great insight into your process and in general. Caw!
Great drawing - caw caw!
I always tell myself that my first line (or first couple of lines) should set the vibe for the story. Since "vibe" is a word I define without words, it's one of those "I know it when I see/hear it" kinds of things. My least-favorite first lines are ones that sound like they were deliberately crafted to attract attention--clickbait first lines, as it were (although some of them are actually pretty good and succeed in getting my attention). In general, I think too much attention is given to first lines, even though I work pretty hard on most of mine. I wonder if a book that started with "Call me Ishmael" would get past an editor today.
Yes, this exactly. That's why I said writing is hard. They can be really gimmicky, and you never want that.
What I was trying to say was what the line promises about the story - notably in a short story. That's why (as I think M.E. said, sometimes they can't be written until the story is finished.
But your vibe is what I agree with the most. And yes, when you know.
Ha - no, Ishmael was a Dick.
Well, I don’t know—but he definitely met one!
Hahaha! Exactly