fic first lines meme
Mar. 29th, 2021 05:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
castironVia legionseagle:
List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favourite opening line.
1. Forth then sailed a ship / the Gaul-Lord's Brew (Cwyllan Mannes Bāt)
2. [While Peg and Cat sing the theme song, a figure in a blue cloak and hood tiptoes through the background and sneaks something under Peg's hat; Peg doesn't notice.] (The Big Blue Box Problem)
3. Mal gazed at the landscape as the powerglider passed over western Luthlia. (Envoi)
4. In a gallery in Paris, as a young man, Stefan made his first acquaintance with Abbess Hester Proctor Cunningham of Brede, though at the time he did not know her name. (Ars Longa)
5. "Farewell, scenic Ann Arbor!" (Ann Arbor)
6. RICHARDSON: O that we now had here
But one, one only, of those brand new fuel lines
They sell in yonder shop! (Agincourt) (Okay, on this one I cheated and did first sentence rather than first line.)
7. Far to the west / we sailed our ship (In the Manner of the South of the River)
8. "We asked a hundred people this question; the top answers are on the board." (I Ain't 'Fraid of No Feud)
9. When the white cat disappeared, everyone was surprised. (Missing Persian)
10. The watchroom at the top of the stairs was still intact, though the concretion was off-color, the damage becoming visible as well as background-sensible. (Terminus)
11. "Hello, and welcome to Cookie's Country, with me, Cookie Monster." (Cookie's Country)
12. A jeering crowd massed at the doors outside, but within the courtroom, all was somber. (Not Yet Dead)
13. Lord Darcy would never have been involved with the case if he had not gone to visit an old friend of his father's in Exeter in the autumn of 1952. (His Master's Voice)
14. John glanced back at the flat door as Anderson slammed it. (For Science)
15. Let me state for the record that I am only talking to you because Mycroft ordered it. (A Study in Squawking)
16. The first time was during the case that John later called “The Blind Banker”. (The Problem of Time Management)
17. Up then came / a worthy warrior (Gamol-léac)
18. The children had finished their lessons and were playing outside; the housekeeper had received her instructions for dinner; Edward had not yet returned from his visit to the Franklins. (Assistance)
19. On a cloudless night of frost and breezes, the two of us reach the village we had been walking toward for days. (The Mortal)
20. Preparing for a daughter's marriage, Caroline thinks as they ride into town, should be a joyful thing, its only shadow that Laura will be moving away for life. (No Doubts)
My favorite is #15; the main character's voice is clear from the start. I'm also partial to #12, #10, and #6. I don't notice any particular pattern.
legionseagle:List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favourite opening line.
1. Forth then sailed a ship / the Gaul-Lord's Brew (Cwyllan Mannes Bāt)
2. [While Peg and Cat sing the theme song, a figure in a blue cloak and hood tiptoes through the background and sneaks something under Peg's hat; Peg doesn't notice.] (The Big Blue Box Problem)
3. Mal gazed at the landscape as the powerglider passed over western Luthlia. (Envoi)
4. In a gallery in Paris, as a young man, Stefan made his first acquaintance with Abbess Hester Proctor Cunningham of Brede, though at the time he did not know her name. (Ars Longa)
5. "Farewell, scenic Ann Arbor!" (Ann Arbor)
6. RICHARDSON: O that we now had here
But one, one only, of those brand new fuel lines
They sell in yonder shop! (Agincourt) (Okay, on this one I cheated and did first sentence rather than first line.)
7. Far to the west / we sailed our ship (In the Manner of the South of the River)
8. "We asked a hundred people this question; the top answers are on the board." (I Ain't 'Fraid of No Feud)
9. When the white cat disappeared, everyone was surprised. (Missing Persian)
10. The watchroom at the top of the stairs was still intact, though the concretion was off-color, the damage becoming visible as well as background-sensible. (Terminus)
11. "Hello, and welcome to Cookie's Country, with me, Cookie Monster." (Cookie's Country)
12. A jeering crowd massed at the doors outside, but within the courtroom, all was somber. (Not Yet Dead)
13. Lord Darcy would never have been involved with the case if he had not gone to visit an old friend of his father's in Exeter in the autumn of 1952. (His Master's Voice)
14. John glanced back at the flat door as Anderson slammed it. (For Science)
15. Let me state for the record that I am only talking to you because Mycroft ordered it. (A Study in Squawking)
16. The first time was during the case that John later called “The Blind Banker”. (The Problem of Time Management)
17. Up then came / a worthy warrior (Gamol-léac)
18. The children had finished their lessons and were playing outside; the housekeeper had received her instructions for dinner; Edward had not yet returned from his visit to the Franklins. (Assistance)
19. On a cloudless night of frost and breezes, the two of us reach the village we had been walking toward for days. (The Mortal)
20. Preparing for a daughter's marriage, Caroline thinks as they ride into town, should be a joyful thing, its only shadow that Laura will be moving away for life. (No Doubts)
My favorite is #15; the main character's voice is clear from the start. I'm also partial to #12, #10, and #6. I don't notice any particular pattern.