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!
These past twenty lines all derive from my latest flash fiction pieces!
All Things Sweet
What tastes sweeter than victory? Moral purity, healing, social approval?
Dance to Blur the Night Away
Charimone watched a man fumble for an absent cake.
Obligations to Obfuscation
Sharigan presided her hand over a five-pointed star drawn on the floor, clasping a piece of paper from her sister’s notebook.
Miracles Written in Tears From the Cold
“What’s your offer?” Rasleika held her last vial. It gleamed under the skylight, reflected in the eyes of her company.
Upon the Altar of the Crow and the Phoenix
A crow found itself upon the lady’s altar.
Make (Not) This Wish
Want to know what happens when you wish to the stars at night?
Don’t Let Dawn Arrive
“My dear, don’t let me go.” Under these stars, Desemir held his wife close in a twirling dance upon the balcony.
Progenitor of Phoenixes
Eshani presided over sketches and half-done paintings.
To Bloodlet the Past, and Drink to the Future
The Bloodcarver shoved the door closed. “You may come out now.”
From a Musician Lost, Another’s Found
Once there was a harp and a mystery, locked by a manor but shared in discussion.
Heavy is the Heart in Longing
Consider this. A weight in your chest. Beating, splinting, cracking.
Greater Distractions
“What are you doing?” Alycja shoved her desk towards the window, to the backdrop of her sister’s concern.
Debt on the Dancefloor
Silence played in the hall.
Snared Once, Snared Twice
Desemir walked a route of death.
Ensnared by Silver Summonings
“Finally.” Desemir sighed, slipping into bed beside his wife.
The Burden of Heart and Mind
Eshani bore a weight on her tongue.
A Familiar Face
“Some day, when my story’s but a headstone and hearsay, I wish for you to take my mantle.”
One of so Little Faith
Cerigo stood upon the rocks, pebbled by water lapping near his feet.
Splatters of a Star-Splintered Exchange
Charimone, is everything alright? I haven’t seen you all day. I’m back home now if you want to come out.
To Mourn Twice Over
They spoke of a musician who left behind a song and a mystery.
—
From this latest set of lines, there's some patterns here:
The word 'presided' features in 3 out of 20 of these, with the word appearing in the line straight after the opener of A Familiar Face
It's not uncommon for me to use dialogue to open scenes
A lot of these particular ones are rather short, or at least they're a bit blunt
These ones have more of a focus on tone and imagery, but my typical proclivity towards sound is still there
Sending an open tag to anyone who would like to do this, plus @forthesanityofstorytellers @darkluminosity @bardic-tales @kingragnarok-writes @oh-no-another-idea @ls-daydreams @nerasnotesarchive @axl-ul @lizardperson @saberblizzardblogs :D
Premise: List the first lines of your last 20 or so stories. See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line.
I’m going to cheat a little, and do the first lines for all 18 chapters of The Perils of Wanting, since now that it’s done (!!) I figure it’ll be neat to look at those and see what comes up.
[ID - a purple and black decorative divider]
Chapter One
“I see you’re still planning to abandon us.”
Chapter Two
Crystal Hot Springs, the town was called.
Chapter Three
The air smelt different.
Chapter Four
Ashenivir woke to the clatter of hooves on stone, the rattle of wheels, and a relentless babble of Common.
Chapter Five
“Twist sharper on the final syllable,” Rizeth said. “It needs the rotational force as a catalyst.”
Chapter Six
“So we’re staying in the South Ward?”
Chapter Seven
Apparently, serial novels were a popular pastime in Waterdeep.
Chapter Eight
Snow crunched beneath Ashenivir’s boots.
Chapter Nine
Winter had Waterdeep well in its grasp, and today, as most days, snow blanketed the city in white that had remained pristine for all of five minutes before the bustling citizens churned it to grey.
Chapter Ten
It had been suspiciously easy to provoke his Master into sex this morning.
Chapter Eleven
“Master, did you know there’s a letter from Lord Stillgleam here?”
Chapter Twelve
Carriages of every shape and size lined the street outside Stillgleam Villa, disgorging from their plush interiors what seemed like half the nobility of Waterdeep.
Chapter Thirteen
Ashenivir slowly turned a page, the words doing little more than occupy his eyes.
Chapter Fourteen
For days, Ashenivir had been quiet and withdrawn.
Chapter Fifteen
“It was nothing you did,” Ashenivir said.
Chapter Sixteen
Ms Thorne shook her head with an apologetic smile. “I’m so sorry, Verin left about an hour ago.”
Chapter Seventeen
Deep in the Trades Ward, the crush of the crowd and the early Flamerule heat had Ashenivir unpleasantly damp with sweat in a matter of minutes.
Chapter Eighteen
Emmyr didn’t have a shop as such.
[ID - a purple and black decorative divider]
As for patterns, I seem to enjoy a good, short Opening Statement that the Opening Paragraph then expands upon. That and opening with dialogue, which I am unsurprised by, because I know I like doing it.
I think Chapter Twelve’s opening is maybe my favourite, just because I love the visual and I remember working quite a lot to get the phrasing on that line and that paragaph juuust right.
also i love how only one out of eighteen chapters opens with anything that even remotely gives away that this is a D/s erotic romance.
the original premise for this said to tag 10 people but that is Quite A Lot, so i will be tagging less than that: @talesfromaurea @oh-no-another-idea @little-peril-stories and @vacantgodling, take a stab at this one if you like!
I was tagged for this by @sodaliteskull. Gonna gently tag @vsnotresponding, @vacantgodling, @olyolyoxenfreewrites, and open tag
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!
For patterns, I'd say I waste no time introducing the main character and tend to ground readers in either the setting or by revealing something immediate about the MC's life.
Here we go, in no particular order:
Music of the Spheres:
Getting lost in music was always the easiest thing in the world.
Records of the Spiral, Book 1:
Delirium sat, untouched, in a box of new arrivals. Strange that it was the only copy and stranger still that Rory Mackenzie should be the one to find it.
The Last Paladin, Book 1:
Exactly one week ago, Chelsea decided she believed in aliens.
The Last Paladin, Book 2:
As it turned out, magic was hard. Chelsea didn't know what she'd expected, but it wasn't this. She shifted for the hundredth time in her seat, still staring at the same stupid lightbulb which refused to glow and began to lose all form and meaning as her eyes crossed and her mind tried desperately to wander.
The Last Paladin, Book 3:
It was official. Running sucked. It was hard to believe anyone did this for fun. Chelsea's shoes sank in the sand, her lungs ached, and her muscles strained. She hardly had enough magic left in her to twist mid-step and fire up her shield just in time to deflect a bullet. Her shield flared and the impact made a sound like light sabers clashing. She would have thought it was cool if the pirates weren't shooting to kill her.
Incantations of the Mad Mage, Book 1:
Bone white moonlight filtered through the high windows, and it was all Arna's magic needed to see.
Incantations of the Mad Mage, Book 2:
Home never seemed so foreign as it did when Arna Vaughn returned to it.
Incantations of the Mad Mage, Book 3:
The fire warded them against the coming night. The last vestiges of the sun's glow, which haloed the broadleaf trees, faded into blue and into black and the warmth faded away.
Incantations of the Mad Mage, Book 4:
Kasavri Tain opened her eyes.
Incantations of the Mad Mage, Book 5:
Arna Vaughn ran for her life. It seemed like she was always running, that something had always been chasing her. She'd run so far and for so long that she'd forgotten why she was running in the first place. This time, however, it was the Empire itself at her heels.
The Zodiac Circuit, Book 1:
Rhys Valencya's story began with a funeral. She had been to far too many, the very first when she was only a year old. It was her duty to bear witness and partake in the rituals set forth by her grandmother, Carmady Valencya. She didn't know the deceased and yet it was she and her cousins who had been responsible for the body. So where was it now? Cremated, as was city custom. You had to eliminate every possibility of the dead coming back. Of course, Carmady wasn't a big believer of city custom.
Liminal Spaces, Book 1:
Nothing really beat the joy of designing worlds. To take a prompt, an array of concept art, and build it out, imagine the nooks and crannies where the paint didn't reach. To see it from all angles, to consider the light and shadow, form and texture, and then to go there. And if Ref Sanderson was a little frazzled, a lot sleep-deprived, a thousand tiny worries heaping up just beyond the corner of his eye, it was worth it. It had to be worth it.
Sundial Fates, Book 1:
As the stage drove south, the desert grew red. Wind-worn rocks stood as monuments to the time it took to build them and beyond them, Christina received her first glimpse of Sable, Utah.
Red Ghost:
It was evening, the shadows long on the road and the weather clear the hour Danny didn't return home.
Pirates vs Dinosaurs:
Abigail Prescott wrinkled her nose against the miasma of sweat, grime, and strong evening drink that permeated the tavern.
The City Under the Rings:
It wasn't stealing, Rin kept telling himself as he ventured deeper into the archive. No unauthorized personnel, no outsiders, and most certainly no aliens. This was going to be fun.
The Siege of Coracaltone:
Flynn recognized him by the hat. A rich violet thing with a broad brim and a sweeping plume--it certainly stood out in the crowd. He hurried toward it, apologizing for the toes he stepped on, aware that he was late.
Journey to Requiem:
As long as the girl stayed by Callim's side, the goblins left her alone. To her, Callim was safety. To the goblins, he was a useful tool. To the rest of the world, he was a nightmare.
The Void Drums:
Calixto flitted from body to body until the ship was a blur. He saw the angles of the sky with a multitude of eyes and gripped the lines with a multitude of hands. With one pair, he loaded the aft chase gun. Its discharge was a brilliant flash and then nothing. He was already back at the helm.
Empire of Dust, Book 1:
Renning urged his horse through the gates leading into the courtyard. An escort of armed soldiers rode at his side and those before him parted to let him pass. At the end of the path lay an ever-growing pile of bodies.
Premise: List the first lines of your last 20 or so stories. See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line.
@vacantgodling tagged me for this and I'm going to follow his lead and do some chapter opening lines along with scene/story opening lines, based on what I've been working on so far this year.
Nicea chapter 1: Declan stifled a yawn as TRANSMISSION IN PROGRESS appeared as a banner on his console screen.
Nicea chapter 2: Spinder pushed past the glass doors of the transit hub into the chill air of one-in-the-morning Salles City.
Nicea chapter 3: Isabel cracked her eyes open.
Nicea chapter 4: (technically not the first line but I haven't written the actual first line yet) He flipped through old requisition forms, positioning his view so that he could see the whole header and the whole message at once to filter down to the right date.
Nicea chapter 5: When Spinder surfaced from his dreams the light coming through the crack between the curtains was searing.
Nicea chapter 6: Tristan glanced between Rodney and the obscenely thick stack of papers in front of him.
Fallen chapter 1: The sun-warmth of Heaven siphoned itself off his back as he stepped into the Neutral Zone.
Fallen chapter 2: When he woke up, every bit of him was still tinged with ache, but he felt strong enough to continue on to the next shrine.
Derelict Corridors chapter 1: Please confirm your intentions upon receipt.
Derelict Corridors chapter 2: Earl’s eyes drifted open to a feeling of red.
Angst prompt scene from CM: Colin stopped pacing to press the sides of his hands to his forehead like he was too angry to even look at Sid.
Pre-AOM Sorian meets Leon: Sorian rapped two knuckles against the doorframe and Professor Standing looked up from his work.
Pre-AOM after Sorian meets Leon: Leon waited until that Shank character must be long gone—and it really was waiting, because as soon as he turned back to his expense report, he knew he wouldn’t be finishing it today.
OCKiss day 1, Naneb: The branch Donovan had just snipped from the courtyard’s kaesuri tree dropped to the ground right as he heard someone start crying.
OCKiss day 2, After Sunset: "Daddy?"
OCKiss day 3, Icky: As Anni patted the blanket in around Dez’s contours, she realized this was just like tucking in Bran when they were kids, except Bran would chat with her the whole time.
OCKiss day 4, Void: It was one of those darkness periods where Martina did more staring out the hallway windows than sleeping.
OCKiss day 5, Conservative: Thade was almost finished with the news and his sandwich in the dining room when he felt a presence slide up to the end of his booth table.
OCKiss day 6, Alive: In the hallway, Anchesh pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes.
OCKiss day 7, Victory: The Nebulae and the Geese were tied, a flurry of black-and-purple and white-and-yellow on the asphalt as the third period clock ticked down to the last seconds.
I'm honestly not surprised that a lot of these start with people waking up. In Nicea, the crew gets back late from a shipping job because having them return to their planet right at the beginning of the story lets me present a whole lot of worldbuilding on the page without it feeling stuffed in, plus it's fun to see how differently they each handle the post-run sleep of the dead. In Fallen and Derelict Corridors the waking up part underscores how Jerry and Earl are now in wildly different situations and it's kinda disorienting. But what I really think is interesting is that only one of these starts with dialogue. I really do like to set the scene first, or start with something introspective.
Favorite opening line: When Spinder surfaced from his dreams the light coming through the crack between the curtains was searing.
This one's probably the strongest on its own rather than as a stepping stone into the rest of the story. And this is exactly my experience of sleeping in hotels lol.
I'll tag @sunset-a-story, @multi-lefaiye, @omniblades-and-stars, and whoever wants to join in!
📝 List the first line of some of your wips and see if there’s a pattern!
I had to use completed stories too because I only have one active WIP. And I only included actual first lines here, not epigraphs (I think using epigraphs is my actual pattern). OK, here goes...
November Breaks
“Jordan, what?” My assistant. I haven’t fucked him yet, but I’ve been thinking about it probably more than I should.
Spin Cylinder
Five-thirteen in the morning and I’m frozen awake by you standing with your back to me, refusing to turn around.
Bridge From Ashes
It’s been weeks since I last saw daylight, but that's not unusual.
Name From Nowhere
Aria Teresa Day, you are charged with possession of illegal technology with intent to supply, association with a known criminal, resisting arrest, assault of an Authority agent, and assault with a deadly weapon.
Tagging @aalinaaaaaa, @aether-wasteland-s, @afoolandathief and @ahordeofwasps if you'd like to do it, with an open tag for anyone else who wants to join in 💜
Reblogs, replies etc on my tag posts are always welcome, but if you're doing this tag yourself, please make your own post instead of using mine to start a reblog chain.
Rules: list the first line of some of your wips and see if there’s a pattern!
Invisible Girl:
In a city as big as New York it was easy for Velia to feel invisible; this was, in part, because she actually was.
Stars and Ships:
“Open port bay door,” Jax called, adjusting his gun belt and making sure his black canvas vest was straight.
Bent Nails:
Instead of saying calmly that his long distance girlfriend and her daughter were coming to stay for a few months on a sort of test run for the relationship, Nick closed the truck door and put on his sunglasses and asked Michael how he felt about women.
A couple first lines from different fanfics:
His head is pieces of china, ceramic, glass, and concrete, all smashed into dust and slivers and his job is to glue them back into their original urns.
“I don’t know about you,” Steve said to the cute guy in the pizza shop, “But it’s been a long week.”
The docks were a swirl of color and noise, coalsmoke rising in the distance, clanging from the warehouses ringing over the rooftops, but they might as well have been empty.
This is interesting to me, because Invisible Girl's first line has been reshaped and rewritten hundreds of times, whereas Stars and Ships and Bent Nails haven't reached a point where they've been edited or re-thought once.
However, the clearest theme to me is that I try to really grab attention and set the tone with the first line, regardless. I also try to do something different each time, even if it takes me a few edits to get there. Super neat!
I'll gently push the tag towards @talesofsorrowandofruin @space-writes @vsnotresponding @winterandwords and anyone else who sees this!
rules: list the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern!
thanks for the tag, @adhdavinci! let's pretend this wasn't sitting in my drafts for a month 😅 go check out their lines here
passing the tag along (with no pressure) to @i-can-even-burn-salad, @macabremoons, @fanged-writer, @innocentlymacabre, @winterandwords, and an open tag for anyone who wants to share
sooo I'm gonna have to break some rules here bc I don't think I've even worked on 10 fics recently, much less posted them (not more than, like, a snippet at a time, anyway). so i'll start with what i've actually posted, then just... fuck it, we ball?
yeah that sounds good.
'Just stuff my dad into a bag,' she'd said. 'He'll fit, of course he will. Have you seen how small he is? He's bluffing, he won't really turn you into a fern,' she'd said. (Dead Roots, Dark Water, Ch 1)
For all his research, Daxter had never figured out who'd designed the Krimzon Guard Fortress. And it was a good thing, too, because if he ever did, he would shoot the architectural anarchist in the foot, run them over with a hellcat, and throw them in the port. Then he'd fish them out again just so he could shoot them in the face. (DRDW, Ch 2)
Magic and blood sit heavy on V’s tongue. (Untitled Cyberwitch WIP, Ch 1)
The silence amplified everything: the squeak of rusty nails in the boards beneath Luka's feet; the rat-a-tat rattle of the loose panes in the windows; Jules's unsteady breathing as they tapped on their phone; Luka's own stammering heartbeat. "I don't think we should be here." (I Am Alive)
I have always been here. (A Haunted Home)
'The monster is not your enemy.' A half-crushed note, faded and bled, written in his own hand: the only familiar thing in the room where Lienzo had awakened. (The Art of Empty Space (V2), Ch 1)
It was the pain that woke him. (TAES (V1), Ch i-don't-know,-i-didn't-section-this-thing-into-chapters)
The air coated his lungs in a thick layer of smog and exhaust, vapor and sweat and noise, cacophonous clanging competing for his attention. Engines, alarms, voices. Jak let them all in, let them bury him in a landslide of stimulation. It wasn't stale, silent, recirculated air. It was alive, and so was he. (DRDW, Ch 3)
Metal shrieked against metal. Violet paint streaked across the green of his speeder. Screaming. Crackling eco slugs reached out with staticky tendrils as they whizzed by. (DRDW, Ch 10)
The ocean breeze brought with it decay: rotting seaweed infested with sandflies; drowned fish with oil and eco caked in their gills; algae and mildew and rotting wood. Its icy fingers trailed goosebumps down his skin, cooled the blood beneath. (DRDW, Ch 13)
so, if we're looking for patterns, i think it looks like... i really like character voices; starting en media res; and starting with some really vivid descriptions. anything you guys see that i missed?
Legends speak of a deer as fair as the snow-capped mountains.
Promises to Keep
Sickly sweet shipments lilted the air, sown of salt and seagulls.
The Highest Bidder
“Son.” Andreas heard a knock on his door, revealing his father upon opening it.
—
From my openers of this year so far, I can see a trend where I tend to try and evoke some sort of sensory detail. If dialogue counts as sound then about half of these involve sound directly, with visuals another frequently used sense.
Also, I do have a tendency of using poetic techniques in my prose. Alliteration and onomatopoeia are the ones I draw on most, to give the lines a bit of flow, bounce and melody. Repetition crops up too, especially in relation to onomatopoeic words.
Writing this out has made me realise I invoke sound a lot through my pieces, as a means of setting the tone, hooking the reader, and hopefully working towards immersing them in the piece.
As for my favourite line? Hmm... I say that would be Control's opener. The sound and the tone of it ooze with tension, I can imagine an episode opening with this sound and imagery.
Sending this tag onto @houndsofcorduff @diabolical-blue @jconstantines @oleanderbailey @darkluminosity @forthesanityofstorytellers @winterandwords @ark-inkweaving @spideronthesun and @space-writes , in addition to the open tag for everyone :D
