tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464229373122942878.post5163092765787629315..comments2023-05-29T00:58:14.402-07:00Comments on 52 Weeks: First Sentences and ResearchUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464229373122942878.post-54837595066911021572012-04-27T11:14:22.384-07:002012-04-27T11:14:22.384-07:00Hi MOV,
Thanks for sharing you thoughts! I have b...Hi MOV,<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />Joy in the process and enjoy! :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03052401502190286630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464229373122942878.post-1679304524346511622012-04-23T13:53:04.019-07:002012-04-23T13:53:04.019-07:00Joid Su,
You expect the first line to punch you ...Joid Su, <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />*************<br /><br />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....... <br /><br />best,<br />MOV<br />mothersofbrothersblog<br />ps-I am a new follower, but not in a creepy stalkerish way (that you know of).MOVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00782183723607923501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464229373122942878.post-47429009926235253502012-04-01T14:46:40.245-07:002012-04-01T14:46:40.245-07:00It was really great and I think I need to make it ...It was really great and I think I need to make it a regular practice...let me know how your haunting goes! :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03052401502190286630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464229373122942878.post-67768953646519990552012-03-30T15:51:22.248-07:002012-03-30T15:51:22.248-07:00Sounds like a great day, and very productive. I...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.Ruth Schiffmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02625363295823548969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464229373122942878.post-14413795733157262552012-03-28T14:41:54.071-07:002012-03-28T14:41:54.071-07:00That sounds like a great way to do research. Need ...That sounds like a great way to do research. Need to do that, stalk readers in the bookstore.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12106399041059595196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464229373122942878.post-46413776283353888192012-03-21T12:57:09.309-07:002012-03-21T12:57:09.309-07:00typo..."first sentences" :)typo..."first sentences" :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03052401502190286630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464229373122942878.post-48625427951826108352012-03-21T12:54:37.253-07:002012-03-21T12:54:37.253-07:00I so appreciate your thoughts Jeremy & Traci! ...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!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03052401502190286630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464229373122942878.post-32521608703497725932012-03-21T12:53:12.356-07:002012-03-21T12:53:12.356-07:00Thanks! That is just what I was hoping for...yippp...Thanks! That is just what I was hoping for...yipppeee! I love your phrase above "fresh heart"...beautiful!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03052401502190286630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464229373122942878.post-83239554652990297912012-03-20T19:07:21.968-07:002012-03-20T19:07:21.968-07:00I am a big fan of letting things simmer-- usually ...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.<br /><br />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.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464229373122942878.post-90869418685593700492012-03-20T05:12:36.708-07:002012-03-20T05:12:36.708-07:00I wish I still had a bookstore nearby, most of our...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.Traci Kenworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07336373871521363649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464229373122942878.post-3398148815212333772012-03-19T19:36:57.067-07:002012-03-19T19:36:57.067-07:00I tend to write and then come back and edit if the...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.Jeremy Bateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00877532315856151843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464229373122942878.post-82663791934807686102012-03-19T14:34:27.990-07:002012-03-19T14:34:27.990-07:00Sorry about the typo Tara on your name.Sorry about the typo Tara on your name.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03052401502190286630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464229373122942878.post-64535568709857046112012-03-19T14:32:26.905-07:002012-03-19T14:32:26.905-07:00I tend to write my first sentences last. I pay att...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!<br /><br />Darcy, I love your first line. It makes me want to read more and it sets a clear tone.<br />Here is a first line of mine: Rain falls on happy people and sad people in just the same way. <br /><br />Thanks Tar for the reminder to think of first lines for each chapter. I think that will be my next exercise.<br /><br />There really is nothing like time in a real bookstore. I think I need more of it.<br /><br />Thanks for the replies! <br />Heart, Jodi SuAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03052401502190286630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464229373122942878.post-86616348903452179302012-03-19T04:19:41.845-07:002012-03-19T04:19:41.845-07:00i miss my closed bookstore! great research! online...i miss my closed bookstore! great research! online is so not the same! no other customers to get a read on!<br /><br />i've been thinking about first lines too...of each chapter...Tara Tylerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07587802105993889515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464229373122942878.post-64739600050444698362012-03-18T18:51:44.685-07:002012-03-18T18:51:44.685-07:00Oh, I would love to spend a day at a bookstore. Sh...Oh, I would love to spend a day at a bookstore. Shopping online just isn't the same . . .<br /><br />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?<br /><br />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.<br /><br />That said, the first line of my WIP is: The old Linwood manor stood on a lonely stretch of earth.<br /><br />...I don't know how it stands up to other first lines in general. It works well with this particular story, though!<br /><br />What are your first lines?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com