So, I've been told by every creative writing teacher that I have ever had that the first line (or few lines) of a story are the most important. They are (hopefully) the first thing that your reader will read when they encounter your story. The line should grab them, draw them in, and make them want to keep going. If a reader is bored by the end of the first, if you're lucky second, paragraph then they will most likely not continue reading.
So, this is a place to put up your first line, or few lines, of your novel for this year. Entice us, intrigue us, make us want to read what you're writing.
So far, I'm thinking of this for a first line.
"Are you going to steal me?"
----------
2006: The Chronicles of Ahlterra: Medari (winner)
2007: The Chronicles of Ahlterra: Kyrin(winner)
2008: The Chronicles of Ahlterra: The Devoted (winner)
2009: The Chronicles of Ahlterra: The Wandering
15,962 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 08 11
Novel: Phantom Summer
First two lines: Kristen had never seen gargoyles flanking a theatre, yet there they were - two stone gargoyles staring down at her from above the main entrance to the building. Had she been in Europe, this might have seemed normal architecture, but to see these guardians on the campus of Grant College, a small liberal arts college in upstate Ohio, was unsettling.
----------Nancy, the Beach Writer
9,476 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 08 16
Novel: Sexually Deprived For Your Freedom
First Line:
Nothing out of the ordinary had happened at work that Saturday morning at all, so she hadn’t thought anything of the phone call she got from her boyfriend shortly before she left for the day.
1,261 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 11 17
From "Quarantine at the Cape":
The tall mound rose above them from the earth, about two stories high, surrounded by scrub and stunted, twisted trees.
8,014 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 17 02
Novel: Untitled so far.
First sentence: "Face it, you're neutered."
15,962 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 18 34
I love it! You certainly got my attention.
----------Nancy, the Beach Writer
6,755 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 01 57
First few sentences: It was peaceful. That is what I remember most. It wasn't the fact we were geared for war, it wasn't remembering the morning drills, or going on patrols day after day. It was the fact that it was Peaceful out here.
38,010 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 22 50
They are all so fantastic.
Although I must say, I'm loving ana's.
Definitely want to hear more from that one.
----------2006: The Chronicles of Ahlterra: Medari (winner)
2007: The Chronicles of Ahlterra: Kyrin(winner)
2008: The Chronicles of Ahlterra: The Devoted (winner)
2009: The Chronicles of Ahlterra: The Wandering
8,014 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 00 18
I like everyone's too!
And homg flattery. Definitely makes me go: asdfghjkl; o/////o -blush-
But thank you guys! Maybe you'll see more after I do some much needed editing for the rest of it so far.
AND. Everyone, you're doing a great job! :D Let's keep it up, yes?
30,000 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 02 58
Title: Chaucer
First Line
----------"My name, is not important. Even if I told you chances are, it would be a lie."
"Tomorrow may be hell, but today was a good writing day, and on the good writing days nothing else matters." - Neil Gaiman
"I write because I hate. A lot. Hard." - William Gass
39,273 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 10 43
Novel:
Utopian Ugly (tentative title)
First Line:
----------“I take your order, yes?”
================================
2005: The Pig Woman (6K words)
2006: Truth or Dare (14K words)
2007: -----
2008: The Chocolate Festival Murders (50,270 words)
33,073 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 10 52
Needed a break before diving into Chapter 2. So anyway - here's the first line of my story:
Three dark blue hands reached out to grab a hold of the railing, as the zint'jar Tarshismette shook from the hit it had just taken.
8,572 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 20 28
Just started today and haven't totally committed to this beginning, but here's the first two paras:
Jeremy felt the buzzard tugging at his sleeve, its heavy, curved beak pricking into his goosepimpled skin. He strained his arms against invisible bonds, but he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t lift his arms, he couldn’t scare it away. He felt himself screaming inside his own head—“Go away! Shoo! Get off me!”—but it was as though his vocal cords had been cut, or had never existed at all. His lips parted, air streamed out of his mouth, but no sound ventured forth. Looking skyward, he could see the others circling, dark, ghoulish silhouettes in a sky so bright and cloudless he had to blink and look away. The scavenger tugged and nipped at his shoulder, checking for life. Jeremy felt his torso and legs grow cold, like a desert breeze was wafting over them, but his brow dripped sweat and his skin radiated heat. His arms were pinned to his sides, the tendons in his hands and fingers strained to grasp, to wring the carrion bird’s mangy neck.
“Jeremy!” the bird cawed suddenly, its beak gaping wide and black and the scent making him retch. “Why are you dead, Jeremy?” it cawed, and snapped at his arm. Jeremy looked into the ugly blackness of the bird’s beady eyes, opened his mouth wide, and—
----------16,351 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2009 - 19 53
Novel: Looking for Trouble
First 3 Lines:
----------Sixteen-year-old Ophelia Blake sat in the back seat of the shiny black car and stared lazily out the window. This was stupid. After all, just because her father vanished from the face of the earth and her mother was in jail for selling drugs didn’t mean she had to go live with her Grandmother and her Aunt Tallulah
Indirect Roundabout Method GO!
45,846 / 50,000
Nov 10, 2009 - 21 53
Hey, first time on the Delaware board this year. Anyway my novel is called "Hunger", at least for now and and it's a vampire novel. Here are the first few lines:
"He’s so cocky, walking on a dark street wearing a Rolex and expensive loafers. Even if he saw me he wouldn’t be afraid and that’s to my advantage. CKOne, I always liked that cologne. “Hey, hello,” his voice is cut off as I sink my teeth into his neck."
----------NaNoWriMo 2006 - Murder in B Flat - Fail
NaNoWriMo 2007 - " First Night, Last Night - Winner!
NaNoWriMo 2008 - I got nothing
NaNoWriMo 2009 - "Hunger"
16,480 / 50,000
Nov 12, 2009 - 17 23
A story of love and happily ever after's is a story of false hopes and desperation. That was what my mother always said anyway, at least before she was killed.
^^From Snow