Writing Patterns Tag~
Premise: List the first lines of your last 20 or so stories. See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 authors!
Thank you so much for the tag, @aalinaaaaaa ❤ I have nowhere near 20 stories that are actually written because I'm slow as hell and love to float in the worldbuilding phase a bit too much, so apologies for ignoring that bit of the rules oopsie
In no particular order:
Flat 27 (short film)
Darkness, save for a faint glow from an ancient laptop screen, stuck on a screensaver that makes it look like the entire room is underwater. In the dim light one can make out a cramped, suffocating combo of kitchen and living area, made even tinier by the amount of nondescript clutter and neglected objects strewn around. RYAN (V.O.): Silence kills.
What It Is To Live (radio play)
FIRE CRACKLING SOFTLY. OUTSIDE, THERE ARE DISTANT SOUNDS OF SWORDS BEING HAMMERED OVER AND OVER. INSIDE, SOMEONE IS CARVING WOOD WITH RHYTHMIC SCRATCHES. MINHO: (V.O) I don’t really know how I came to be. I know where, I know when, I know why, for the most part. But how… that’s always been a mystery.
Forget-Me-Not (feature film)
A small, bare room. Moonlight slices through all-encompassing darkness. Specks of dust dance hauntingly in the air. Smothered under sheets and heavy blankets lies an OLD WOMAN. Her head lolls to the side, eyes barely slit open. A bony hand reaches for a MAN, sat at her bedside, and grasps his wrist softly. Using the last of her energy, she nods at him. The man trembles. With slow, hesitant movements, he places a pillow over her face.
Metanoia (novel)
“There’s a myth that a person can bite into a finger as easily as biting a carrot.” Mal’s knife stills. He sneaks a glance over his shoulder.
Holy Heresy (idek yet)
If he wanted quiet, the bar is the last place he should’ve gone - the slurred voice in his head whining for alcohol is one thing, but the loud music and the brash patrons yelling and laughing and clapping and roughhousing in the background of his existential dread is all a bit much.
A small disclaimer that the Holy Heresy line is not actually the first line in the thing, but the first line I've ever written for it. I also took the liberty of choosing as many lines as needed to give the excerpts the tiniest bit of context
Starting on imagery and sensory things is a given, considering most of these are scripts.
4 out of 5 also take place at night, which is a surprise to no one because I do quite enjoy how freeing the dark is when it comes to storytelling
Also interesting is how 4 out of 5 are set in the main characters' homes and most of them have some sort of dark element involved (Ryan's line, Mal with the knife, the man with the pillow)
Tagging my eternal writing friends @catchingbigfish @calicohyde @winterandwords and an open tag to anyone else who wants to do this! (yes i cheated the rules again im sorry im not around here enough to have 10 friends and i regret that every day)