I got quite a few replies about the first line thing, enough to see how important it is to all of you. But let's expand that thought a little. While a first line can be haunting for a reader and is the showcase for your novel, it isn't the end. I'm sure people have put down books after the first line--hook 'em good and early, I say--but thankfully it has the rest of the chapter as backup.
One thing I've learned from critiques, a good first line has to be part of a good first chapter. I admit this with some reluctance, but I focused all on the "good" instead of giving attention to "part of." By that I mean, the first line didn't fit with the rest of the chapter. It was from the future looking back, something that doesn't happen in the rest of the book!
So you see what I mean, yes? It's not enough for it to be good. It has to make sense when you look at the novel as a whole, and also when you look at it from a literary standpoint. Let's take one of the quotes from yesterday as an example, "The Call of Cthulhu" because I happen to have it handy.
The first line is "The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents." It's not a stand alone line. The second sentence compounds on the first: "We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far."
The thing about the first line that makes it good is that it introduces the horror that the protagonist, Francis Wayland Thurston, faces and specifically states that the horror is so profound that a glimmer of comprehension is worse than death, the theme of the story.
This is what the introduction of "The Call of Cthulhu" is. The first line leads into the first paragraph, which seamlessly flows into the rest of the story.
Lovecraft may have been a racist jerk, but he knew story structure.
Showing posts with label first lines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label first lines. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
That First Line
First lines are important. They surmise everything about your writing style and hint at what’s to come in the book. At least, they should.
I’m unsure about my first line. It doesn’t do that and it should. It’s boring, sterile, not as sharp and witty as I want it to be. I’ve already changed it more times than I can count and I’ll probably change it a dozen more times until it’s just right. Along with the first chapter, which needs a rewrite itself!
How do you know when you’ve got it? You’ll know. It’s like being slammed with a mental two-by-for. You sit, stunned at your own genius (and perhaps not undeservedly), because your joy at this line diminishes any concerns you have about its appropriateness. When it’s good, it’s good.
Let’s look at some opening lines.
“The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed.”
---THE DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER by Stephen King
Whether or not Stephen King is a good writer is irrelevant. It’s a damn good opening. In that one sentence, you learn everything you need to to ready yourself for the books. The man in black is fleeing. The gunslinger is pursuing, something that resonates through the rest of the series.
"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."
---"1984" by George Orwell
The clocks are striking thirteen. The perfect description of the skewed work that follows.
"All this happened, more or less."
---SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut
If you've read the book you'll understand how much this sums it up, prepares you for what follows, whether or not it happened.
"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents."
---The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft
This is only a small sampling, but it shows how important that first line is. This is the start to your story. It doesn't have to be memorable, but it should tell everything that's going to happen even though it can't come right out and say it.
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