Writing that first line

The answer to that is as individual as the people who participate. Some people plan down to the very last moment. Others do it with no plan, no idea, and no clue. ;)

I usually go in with a rough plot idea, sometimes I don't even know how it ends! Every year I've planned heavily, I've failed. One year, I didn't even know what I was writing until I started!

Heather Dudley
Forums Moderator
Liquid Story Binder, on sale for 50% off during November!
A Dragon Writes

As Heather said, it's very individual.

I spend most of October with a little notebook in my pocket, jotting down ideas as they come to me. I've got details about my main characters, I've got ideas for some scenes, and I've got ideas for a couple of running jokes. In the last week of October, I tend to spend a lot of time thinking about my first line. That's always what gets me going - if I love my first line, the rest of the novel just seems easier to me. And you're totally allowed to decide on your first line in advance - just don't write it down!

Of course, I've also known people who will outline like crazy and have every little detail of every little plot twist planned out. It really depends on your writing style.

It was nice to meet you today, and I hope to see you out at more events over the next month or two!

Danie
Co-ML, Georgia::Macon

Thanks. I like the idea of thinking about a first line and then just diving in. :)
Hope to see everyone at the kick of party.

I'm an extremely goal-oriented sort of person, so what I tend to do (for NaNo purposes only, mind) is think of a basic story idea, and then come up with an ending, a really satisfying ending, and make that the carrot on the stick. I begin to formulate and foment on the paths I will travel to arrive at this oh-so-desirous ending. Then, when midnight strikes on Nov. 1, I have a mission. I have to get to that ending, no matter how much ridiculous bunk I have to make up along the way to make that happen. Granted, no battle plan ever survives initial contact. The characters almost immediately hijack the story, the plot bunnies multiply, ninjas inject themselves into the storyline for no particular reason, and the ending almost invariably becomes something entirely different than what was imagined in the idyllic climes of late October. But it's enough to provide a catalyst, an initial level of motivation, to make that grand metamorphosis possible.

Richard Jeter - The Most Read Author in Antarctica!
...no, really!

Great advice from the most read author in Antartica. I haven't even thought about my ending - will try to do that now. :)