|
Post by Psycho on Jul 6, 2007 23:48:00 GMT -5
So back in the day, your english teacher would tell you to start a story off with a line that would grab the reader's attention... Here is where you post the best story/article/etc. openers you have ever read (and please elaborate if you would like). NOTE: The best opening lines may or may not belong to an equally good book. Sometimes the best opening lines lead to a disappointing story - the point is, the opening line was enough to get you to keep reading.
This is so writers who are stumbling over this block may refer to examples and perhaps derive some inspiration from them. I mean we've all seen stories start off with dialogue, but what about the prose openers? And since I'm currently suffering from this very block, I humbly pass on the honor of the first example to someone else >>; PS: Let's not turn this into a review thread about good or not-so-good books ^_^;; It'd be helpful to discuss what makes opening lines tick, though ^_^
|
|
|
Post by vonunov on Aug 7, 2007 1:09:55 GMT -5
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, this is a good example, this is a terrible cliché.
As best I can figure, the idea is to confuse the reader so that they are forced to finish the book in hopes of finding out what the author is getting at.
|
|
|
Post by Dice on Aug 7, 2007 8:13:40 GMT -5
((Ack, someone already posted my favorite -.- Tale of Two Cities, though I think that might be the abridged opening... Time to go root through my bookshelves!))
It was a pleasure to burn. ~Fahrenheit 451
In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. "Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had." ~The Great Gatsby
|
|
|
Post by bag on Aug 7, 2007 12:47:01 GMT -5
Of all the books I've read, this is probably the best:
I believe what seperates humanity from everything else in this world-spaghetti, binder paper, deep-sea creatures, Mount McKinley-is that humanity alone has the capacity to commit all possible sins. ~Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland
There you go-the whole book's theme in one sentence.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2007 16:51:54 GMT -5
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. - 1984
That's a pretty good book. ^^ Spark noted most of it for school 'cause I was doing a Chemistry project, but I'm gonna reread it soon.
|
|
|
Post by Fraze on Aug 7, 2007 17:45:53 GMT -5
--Endymion, Dan Simmons
I love that opening, especially the first line. It's so deliciously counterintuitive--the narrator telling the reader not to read his story.
|
|
|
Post by Zylaa on Aug 7, 2007 21:00:59 GMT -5
I think my favorite opening line is one that Xicrog came up with, which has absolutely no plot attatched:
"My father died yesterday. Or perhaps it was today. I can't remember."
|
|
|
Post by NSQ lolzzzz on Aug 8, 2007 18:29:34 GMT -5
I think my favorite opening line is one that Xicrog came up with, which has absolutely no plot attatched: "My father died yesterday. Or perhaps it was today. I can't remember." Random note: seems really similar to The Stranger by Albert Camus: Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don't know.
|
|
|
Post by Dice on Aug 8, 2007 18:51:44 GMT -5
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. - 1984 That's a pretty good book. ^^ Spark noted most of it for school 'cause I was doing a Chemistry project, but I'm gonna reread it soon. 1984 is an awesome book I read it last summer.
|
|
|
Post by Psycho on Aug 9, 2007 10:44:27 GMT -5
Random note: seems really similar to The Stranger by Albert Camus: Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don't know. I would keep reading after that line. It's so contrary to how someone would normally react to a mother's death... I would want to know why. -- Endymion, Dan Simmons I love that opening, especially the first line. It's so deliciously counterintuitive--the narrator telling the reader not to read his story. All the more reason to read the story ^_^ I think the first line of that passage is what does it for me - "You are reading this for the wrong reasons." The whole introduction is just an elaboration on that one thought, which a particularly defiant reader (like myself) would continue reading just to spite the author.
|
|
|
Post by Rikku on Aug 10, 2007 15:36:38 GMT -5
'It begins in the middle, with a man falling from a helicopter. Earlier, he had lived a life of great Consequence, and he would go on to do the same, but as Consequence is the sister of Non-sequence, the middle is as well a place to begin as any.'
This is the beginning of my sister's novel, which will be called Possibility if she ever gets around to writing it. I think it's awesome.
|
|
|
Post by Nasuella on Aug 10, 2007 20:38:22 GMT -5
"Romance was such a romantic concept."
I came up with that one. Granted, I've only used it in a drabble... but I love it so much. I might as well use it again someday.
|
|
|
Post by jdb1984 on Aug 12, 2007 21:21:34 GMT -5
Any of the "A Series of Unfortunate Events" books. Snickett starts off each book telling you that you should put the book down and find something happier to read.
|
|
|
Post by Patrick (Forumerly Known As) on Aug 12, 2007 21:28:49 GMT -5
"For TJ Conlon, the world- as he understood it- would change with a phone call."
There are different stories with different concepts much like this, you HAVE to read to know what on earth is going on.
That is from a very good book called 2006: The Chautauqua Rising.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2007 20:30:20 GMT -5
"This is a story about a man named Eddie and it begins at the end, with Eddie dying in the sun. It might seem strange to start a story with an ending. But all endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time." ~The Five People You Meet in Heaven (Mitch Albom) Beautiful.
|
|