First Lines

I love it when I follow a blogpost down a rabbit hole and actually end up happy. 
(Sometimes, I end up feeling as if I've wasted an hour, don't you?)

Here's where I ended up today:
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/07/why-stephen-king-spends-months-and-even-years-writing-opening-sentences/278043/


And this quote from Stephen King is perfect:
"An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this."

Dorian Cirrone wrote an entire series of posts about First Lines.
(CLICK THAT LINK. Get lost down that rabbit hole! You'll learn a lot.)

I LOVE a good first line.

Dorian shares so many, it's hard to borrow just a couple. So click on over and read them all.


What Remains by Helene Dunbar
 
No one ever calls in the middle of the night to tell you that you’ve won the lottery.


And this:


The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
 
Of all the kids in the seventh grade at Camillo Junior High, there was one kid that Mrs. Baker hated with heat whiter than the sun.
Me.


Go ahead. Begin! Or revise if you've already written a draft.
Hook your reader from very the first line.

Crafty Blogs

Make that crafty WRITING blogs, of course.

When I first started to write, I followed my friend Barbara O'Connor's WRITING TIP TUESDAY posts like a child with Christmas candy. Now I love seeing the Writing Links shared by Caroline Starr Rose.
I learn a lot from fellow writers. 
Thanks, Dorian Cirrone, and so many others.  
 
What fun, unwrapping each one and tasting it. Putting it back if it isn't right. Saving a tip for later. Does it work for me? Can I apply this to what I need right this minute in my novel?

I've shared Writing Tips here on this blog, and here's another:

Does the story suffer from too much reality?  Sol Stein said a reader is “primarily seeking an experience different from and greater than his or her everyday experience in life.”  Erica Jong said a novel “must make my so-called real world seem flimsy.”  And here is Kurt Vonnegut: “I don’t praise plots as accurate representations of life, but as ways to keep readers reading.’’
A novel is an amplification of real life.  It is more exciting, more fun, more romantic, more glamorous, and more dangerous.  It is wittier, braver, courser, faster and bigger.  A novel has more smell, more taste, and more sound.  Friendships are closer, and enemies are crueler.  Children are more mature, and old people more profound.  Dogs don’t just lie around, and cats have a purpose.  Everything is more.
We all live real lives, and so we don’t want to read about real lives as our entertainment.  Ramp up the story.


You can read the entire, excellent article HERE.

Off to ramp up a story. Or dream up a story.
The New Year will be here soon. Are you writing something new to celebrate?
Cheers!

 

(Lots of great images HERE!)

Don't Miss This Blog

Are you following Dorian Cirrone's blog?

If not, you should be. 
Amazing writing craft tips.

Great recent post, especially the paragraph about NAMES. (see link below)

I love finding the perfect name for a troublesome character. It's crucial that we nail our characters' names, don't you think? 

 
A few currently under consideration for my latest effort.

 (One of these days, I WILL find a use for Taxi Jones.)




Check out what Dorian says about the names and what they say about their characters in Liar & Spy.  
I was always intrigued by "Georges." I mean, who uses that for a kid's name in a book? A terrifically talented writer, that's who. 

Here's the link:
http://doriancirrone.com/welcome/raffle-winner-and-kicking-writers-block/