Sunday, March 18, 2012

First Sentences and Research



I spent a lot of today at a bookstore in the Young Adult section and then went to Fiction and Literature. I looked at covers and observed what caught my eye, tried to pay attention to why and then I read the first lines of over 100 novels in both sections. I noticed whether a book was written in 1st person or not. I overheard teens selecting books and then putting them back down. I took myself out for a salad and wrote notes about my experience. While I was at lunch I looked over twitter, most of which was about writing and books. I came home and wrote first sentences for my WIPs. I had a delightful day! What is your first sentence and why?

15 comments:

  1. Oh, I would love to spend a day at a bookstore. Shopping online just isn't the same . . .

    Do you write your first sentences first-- or do you go back later to work them in when you've already written all or part of the story?

    I pay a lot of attention to my first line when I am starting a new story-- a good first line sets me off in a good direction-- but I get hung up if I worry too much about whether *this* first sentence is the one that's going to be at the top of my final manuscript, so I like to remind myself that there are do-overs during the course of punching out a first draft.

    That said, the first line of my WIP is: The old Linwood manor stood on a lonely stretch of earth.

    ...I don't know how it stands up to other first lines in general. It works well with this particular story, though!

    What are your first lines?

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  2. i miss my closed bookstore! great research! online is so not the same! no other customers to get a read on!

    i've been thinking about first lines too...of each chapter...

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  3. I tend to write my first sentences last. I pay attention to the first line I write when I start a new WIP but I tend to find that the beginning is really the middle or at least a bit into things. I am a "chunker" when I write. I write a whole chunk then let it simmer and brew for days, weeks or months and when I return to it later I am no longer a writer but an editor. I am a very mellow editor but I do turn my writer self off. Sine I made this split I have been able to write so much more. Before that I was almost all editor and not enough writer!

    Darcy, I love your first line. It makes me want to read more and it sets a clear tone.
    Here is a first line of mine: Rain falls on happy people and sad people in just the same way.

    Thanks Tar for the reminder to think of first lines for each chapter. I think that will be my next exercise.

    There really is nothing like time in a real bookstore. I think I need more of it.

    Thanks for the replies!
    Heart, Jodi Su

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    1. I am a big fan of letting things simmer-- usually the simmering happens before I sit down to write, but going back to something already written and giving it a read-through with a fresh heart is a wonderful way to gain perspective.

      I love your first line, too! There's something both lonely and comforting about it, and it really makes me want to know what comes next.

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    2. Thanks! That is just what I was hoping for...yipppeee! I love your phrase above "fresh heart"...beautiful!

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  4. Sorry about the typo Tara on your name.

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  5. I tend to write and then come back and edit if the first sentence doesn't work well. I believe first sentences, whether they be in the opening chapter, paragraph or whatever are important, as they set the tone a lot of times.

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  6. I wish I still had a bookstore nearby, most of our are closed. My first sentences just seem to happen. I often start writing and in the course of such, discover the RIGHT sentence and then begin again from that point.

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  7. I so appreciate your thoughts Jeremy & Traci! Tone is a wonderful and elusive thing that first really impact. The process of getting there is wild!

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  8. That sounds like a great way to do research. Need to do that, stalk readers in the bookstore.

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  9. Sounds like a great day, and very productive. I've just been thinking I need to go hang out at the mall or something so I can capture bits of overheard teen dialogue. Haven't done that in a long time. Perhaps, I'll haunt the bookstore.

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  10. It was really great and I think I need to make it a regular practice...let me know how your haunting goes! :)

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  11. Joid Su,

    You expect the first line to punch you in the face, preferably the nose, and leave you feeling a little numb, bloody, painfully aware, or preferably all three. That is what you look for. That is success.

    However, you can't get most people to pick up a book written in the third person. You might be tempted to buy a book like that, based on the cover or copy on the book jacket, but then you get it home, read a few chapters, and ultimately you feel deflated. You ask yourself why you strayed from your standard formula: FIRST PERSON. FIRST PERSON ONLY.

    You decide (wisely) to branch out and allow a few books written in the *second* person. Harder to master, you nonetheless have complete respect for a writer who tries to pull that off, because it is darn near impossible.

    *************

    As for my first line of my first book, I started with, "Because I am a perfect mother ..." and then I basically spend the entire rest of the book explaining why I'm not. I love to toss convention on its head, kick it a few times, then check for consciousness. Which brings me back to that punch in the face and bloody nose.......

    best,
    MOV
    mothersofbrothersblog
    ps-I am a new follower, but not in a creepy stalkerish way (that you know of).

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  12. Hi MOV,

    Thanks for sharing you thoughts! I have been thinking about your post. I am not sure I agree with all of it, for me as a writer, but I respect you laying it out there with passion. I am an advocate of the #slowfiction movement. I started the hashtag on twitter :). Part of that, for me, is third person, character driven, quirky writing and reading. I was fascinated watching the teens pick up and put down so many books-all first person I was later able to sleuth out.

    Writing is art. Art is subjective. I am fine with writing in my niche. I have recently stared a first person YA novel, just to try it and see if it works with my other aesthetics.

    Joy in the process and enjoy! :)

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