Whats your first line?

MarkButler · Nov 1, 2007

Several writing authors have told me that the first sentence in a book is the most important one. I've even read where people will choose to buy/not buy based on the first sentence. I've never done that but I will agree that the first sentence is important. It shows the writing style, gives a hint of what is to come and sets the pace.

So, given that it should already be written

, show off your first sentence to the world!

Mine is: [FONT=&quot]General Adama Hergenreder watched as his carefully choreographed battle plan went awry.[/FONT]

jennifer75 · Nov 1, 2007

I haven't started "writing" yet, but last night my first line came to me:

We need to talk.

Powerful, heh?

hehe... good luck NoNoWriters!!!!

Sassee · Nov 1, 2007

per No Plot, No Problem, no one should be worrying about how good their first line is just yet

That said, mine sucks:

I got the call at nine am on a Tuesday.

glassquill · Nov 1, 2007

My first line is:

Reywin shivered as he crouched in front of a meager fire.

TheIT · Nov 1, 2007

From "Lock and Keystone":

Flames tickled Katrina's face like cats' tails as she hurried down the street ignoring the shocked looks from people she passed.

Ava Jarvis · Nov 1, 2007

From A Change in the Weather.

It was a mistake to call Jody that night, and a mistake to do it from the office.

GeorgieB · Nov 1, 2007

Rather than use "It was a dark and stormy night" I decided to go with "Once upon a time there was a ...." Tomorrow I'll fill in the blanks.

Angelinity · Nov 1, 2007

..ugh!...bhaahhh!!!!... arghhhhhhhhhh!!!!... bhaam! ........

:e2stooges

donno.

(them still fightin' who be foist)

AnnieColleen · Nov 1, 2007

glassquill said:
My first line is:

Reywin shivered as he crouched in front of a meager fire.

Mine sympathizes:

[FONT=&quot]Miles Lazarre tugged his bedroll tighter around him. [/FONT]

LeslieB · Nov 1, 2007

Heat can do a lot of ugly things to a human body.

jennifer75 · Nov 1, 2007

Can my opening line be diaglogue?

Sassee · Nov 1, 2007

Cranky · Nov 1, 2007

Jessie Schofield sat on an overstuffed armchair and stared out a window at her fog-shrouded lawn.

Meh. LOL

Pomegranate · Nov 1, 2007

It was a dark and stormy night on Mars, which means it was a dust storm.

Isn't that awful!? It was my husband's idea... yeah, really...

We're writing a first draft. When this novel is edited (if ever) the real beginning may be somewhere else in the story. My goal was to get writing asap (I had 15 minutes this morning because I overslept) and worry about the perfect hooky first sentence later on. Hopefully the rest of the story won't be quite this sucktastic.

Ava Jarvis · Nov 1, 2007

Chopping off the front chunks of the novel until the real beginning is reached is a common thread during rewrites among many writers.

It's perfectly normal.

DamaNegra · Nov 1, 2007

Mine is (translated):

For the first time in his life, he went out of the hospital.

benbradley · Nov 1, 2007

John looked quizzically at the mechanism in front of him.

ETA: Novel title is Clockwork Engineering.

Esopha · Nov 1, 2007

All in all, I didn’t believe in eternal souls until about thirty seconds after I died.

Sage · Nov 1, 2007

First NaNo line: "Yo, DL."

First novel line: DL crept up the stairs, making no noise as he stepped.

(Really? Hmm, I thought I avoided "DL" as the first word.)

FolkloreFanatic · Nov 1, 2007

Mine is:

No matter how kind, selfless, or compassionate you are, at any given moment, somewhere in the world there exists at least one person who wants to kill you.

Robert L.B. · Nov 1, 2007

From Savior Curse:

"Should the sword lie for ten and four seasons...Where's the rest?"

bsolah · Nov 1, 2007

Mine's

I patted the fucker down but the sand looked too perfect.

JoNightshade · Nov 1, 2007

Jo curled into a fetal position and began to cry.

Oh, wait, sorry, that was MY first line. My NANO line, you say?

"Must I come?"

Denryu · Nov 1, 2007

Mine is:

Childish laughter echoed through the dark hallway.

JoNightshade · Nov 1, 2007

Okay so I can't decide whether to work on one novel or another for Nano. I'm just going to switch back and forth until one grabs me. This is the first line from #2:

For a historian, erasing the truth is a cardinal sin. Yet here I am, broom in hand, sweeping away my footprints as I step through time.

Whats your first line?

Part Time Fool

SupahStah!

Momma Wolf

RB's favourite chewtoy

Infuriatingly Theoretical

Too stupid to know fear

Almost a wannabe writer

absent

Invisible Writer

Geek Unique

SupahStah!

Momma Wolf

Too stupid to know fear

Mexican on the loose!

It's a doggy dog world

bam pow zap.

Supreme Guessinator

The Arthurian Addict.

Tao of Wonka

AW's Resident Commie

has finally arrived

The Inevitable Crash

has finally arrived