Judged on Your First Line

Éclairer · Nov 4, 2006

Judged: Your First Line

How important are they?

I usually judge a book by its opening sentence.

janetbellinger said:
The first line might make me read further but I don't decide a book is worth reading until I've read a few paragraphs at least and leafed through the book. The first line can make me decide NOT to read the book, though.

^ that's what I meant.

What about you guys?

By the way, I'm new here. Hello. :hooray:

PS The title, "Judged on your first line," sounds grammatically incorrect to me.

TrainofThought · Nov 4, 2006

I don’t judge by the first line, but I read the first page or two. The writing needs to be appealing before I will buy it.

As for my WIP, I want the first line to hold the reader and because of this my prologue has completely changed. It is important to me as a writer, but not as a reader.

ChaosTitan · Nov 4, 2006

Unless the sentence is extraordinarily fabulous or utterly awful, I don't think you can judge a book by it's first line (at least I can't). I give it at least a page before I decide if I'll read it/buy it, and at least fifty pages before I decide to chuck it completely or continue to the end.

Éclairer · Nov 4, 2006

chaostitan said:
Unless the sentence is extraordinarily fabulous or utterly awful, I don't think you can judge a book by it's first line (at least I can't). I give it at least a page before I decide if I'll read it/buy it, and at least fifty pages before I decide to chuck it completely or continue to the end.

That's probably a good way to do it.

I wouldn't buy a book on the first line; but I would decide not to. If I like the first line, I read the page; if I like the page I buy the book. Usually it takes me about fifty pages as well to make a definitive decision about getting to the end and even then it's not entirely a sure thing. I'm a bit of a scatter when it comes to reading. It took me years to read some of my favorite books, haha. I'd read them in pieces.

icerose · Nov 4, 2006

No, but it definitely has to hook me within th first page or two, the sooner it hooks me, the better!

janetbellinger · Nov 4, 2006

The first line might make me read further but I don't decide a book is worth reading until I've read a few paragraphs at least and leafed through the book. The first line can make me decide NOT to read the book, though.

blacbird · Nov 4, 2006

Most writers submitting anywhere get judged first on their name. If your name is known and recognized, the first line is a lot less important than if it isn't. If your name isn't known, there's a fair chance your first line won't even get read.

caw

Mr. Funktastic · Nov 4, 2006

I won't really judge a book by its first line. I mean, I really love a great first line, but I can put up with a bad one. If the lines after are also bad... Well, it really has to hook me within the first twenty or so pages.

jpserra · Nov 4, 2006

Hemingway

Éclairer said:
How important are they? I usually judge a book by its opening sentence. ...

Many of Hemingway's, Faulkner's and even Vonnegut's works have uninspiring first sentances. (I know I'm bound to get some posts on this.) It is up to the individual to determine what is good. There is a body of critical work out there to suggest what is good. You can send a piece to 10 different editors, and they might all disagree as to the critical nature of the content of your first sentance.

Using well punched, clear and enticing english in your opener will help. But this does not define the work, it only introduces it.

John Serra

FennelGiraffe · Nov 4, 2006

First, I pre-filter by author, genre, blurb, the mood I happen to be in, reviews, etc.

Once a book passes those tests, however, I give it at least five or six pages. In rare cases, extreme craposity may trigger an earlier rejection, but multiple pages is my norm.

KiwiChick · Nov 4, 2006

I don't think I can tell anything from the first line of a book (unless it has three spelling mistakes and doesn't make grammatical sense). I'm more likely to judge a book by the blurb on the back. That being said, I use the blurb to tell me if the story is going to interest me, and the first page or two to tell me if I like the writing style. A nicely done description of the weather and absolutely nothing happening won't put me off.

KiwiChick

Simon Woodhouse · Nov 4, 2006

I don't judge other books on the first line, but I do put a lot of thought into my own. It's a bit like how you dress to go on a date – you spend far too much time in front of the mirror wondering about how you look, but then you hardly notice what other people are wearing and they probably do the same with you. But no matter, you still spend ages trying to get it right.

I see reading a book as a long haul thing, so I'm not after instant gratification. If I'm looking at a short story, that's a different matter. I think the first line counts more in a short, because the author hasn't got so many words to waste (for want of a better expression).

Danger Jane · Nov 4, 2006

FennelGiraffe said:
First, I pre-filter by author, genre, blurb, the mood I happen to be in, reviews, etc.

Once a book passes those tests, however, I give it at least five or six pages. In rare cases, extreme craposity may trigger an earlier rejection, but multiple pages is my norm.

Same. I'm generally a pretty forgiving reader...until something starts to really BUG me, I'll keep reading.

RG570 · Nov 4, 2006

I don't judge a book by the first line. I can see no correlation between first lines and whether or not I enjoy a story.

I judge the book once I'm done reading it. I decide if I will read any given book based solely on what I hear about it and the blurb on the back.

FolkloreFanatic · Nov 4, 2006

I agree with Eclairer; the first line doesn't have to sell it to me, but if it's weak, it might cause me to put the book down. Usually, though, I go through several steps:

1. read the back cover or the inside flap of the dust jacket
2. read the reviews and see if anyone worth their salt liked it
3. open to a page at random and look at the format, dialogue/description ratio, style. Can I tolerate an entire novel worth of this person's voice?
4. pick a second random page and read a paragraph or two. Is it interesting out of context?
5. *maybe* read from the beginning of the first page

It's definitely last on my list of priorities when evaluating a book. As much as I advocate having the strongest opening possible, some people don't make immediate hooks; their hooks are more gradual.

For instance, if I were to skip the opening poem of Palahniuk's "Haunted" and go to the first sentence of the book a page after, I wouldn't get much of an impression of him as a writer. The poem in itself is powerful, but it takes a page or more of his prose to reel me in.

Nickie · Nov 4, 2006

When I'm considering a submission, I must say that the opening lines ARE important to me. Very often they'll tell you a lot. The opening of a novel should catch the attention. It if does, I'll read on.
Then, when the opening appeals to me, I'll have a look at the first chapters. Reading through them gives me almost always the right impression: this book deserves a chance - or not.

Nickie

icerose · Nov 4, 2006

I am adding in that if the opening line is clumsy, annoying, or just plain flat, it has a higher chance of being set down than one that is okay to great.

jpserra · Nov 4, 2006

Clarification...

I did not mean to say that you should not do the most to present a great opener. Yes, absolutely perform at your finest in writing a strong, catchy, exquisitly perfect opening. But you'd better have something behind it to work for the rest of the story.

John Serra

maddythemad · Nov 4, 2006

The only time you can judge a book by it's first line is when it begins with "So-in-so took off his bra and threw it on the coffin."

I don't remember where I read that, but that first line alone was enough to make me go, "That's it. I'm done."

Éclairer · Nov 4, 2006

maddythemad said:
The only time you can judge a book by it's first line is when it begins with "So-in-so took off his bra and threw it on the coffin."

I don't remember where I read that, but that first line alone was enough to make me go, "That's it. I'm done."

That's so creepy. Funny though.

Éclairer · Nov 4, 2006

Simon Woodhouse said:
I don't judge other books on the first line, but I do put a lot of thought into my own. It's a bit like how you dress to go on a date – you spend far too much time in front of the mirror wondering about how you look, but then you hardly notice what other people are wearing and they probably do the same with you. But no matter, you still spend ages trying to get it right.

I love your analogy.

PeeDee · Nov 4, 2006

Generally, I just read for a while, regardless of the book. Eventually, something causes me to put the book down (by which I mean, the wife calls me, dinner is ready, I have to go to work, stuff like that) and I stop reading. THe thing is, if I pick the book back up again, then I'll keep going.

Neeli · Nov 4, 2006

kpmcneil22 said:
In fact, it's becoming a turnoff when the first sentence has too much punch - just seems to be trying too hard.

I agree. There is too much emphasis on the first line.

When I choose a book to read, it is usually by the recommendations of others. Then I read the blurb, scan a few paragraphs inside, and check out the opening page. These might turn me off, but sometimes I'm pleasantly intrigued.

But I must admit that cover art is important to me. Got a dragon on it? Hey I'll take a look. Got spaceships or military types? Nope. The cover tells me in an instant if I might like the subject matter.

Declan · Nov 4, 2006

The price of the book is the most important thing.
If you get a good book cheap, somehow, the first line seems pretty darned good.

Dec.

KiwiChick · Nov 4, 2006

Neeli said:
But I must admit that cover art is important to me. Got a dragon on it? Hey I'll take a look. Got spaceships or military types? Nope. The cover tells me in an instant if I might like the subject matter.

Yes! Yes! Yes! Aways judge a book by its cover.

I won't read anything with cheesy looking cartoonish people on the front, so don't try to make me!

Judged on Your First Line

Éclairer

TrainofThought

A flowering bud of bitchiness

ChaosTitan

Around

Éclairer

icerose

Lost in School Work

janetbellinger

blacbird

Mr. Funktastic

The name says it all.

jpserra

Recovering Gumshoe

FennelGiraffe

It's green they say

KiwiChick

Editing like a caffeinated chipmunk

Simon Woodhouse

Danger Jane

RG570

FolkloreFanatic

The Arthurian Addict.

Nickie

Not too old to learn

icerose

Lost in School Work

jpserra

Recovering Gumshoe

maddythemad

Éclairer

Éclairer

PeeDee

Where's my tea, please...?

Neeli

The Khatun

Declan

KiwiChick

Editing like a caffeinated chipmunk