Adrian posted a question about first chapters, but what about opening sentences? Anyone brave enough to post theirs for comparison?
Since I'm asking, I'll take the early flak.
From Walls of Jericho - 'Louis-Henri Loison could not die.'
From Leopardkill - '"Another dead 'un over here!"'
From Dog Watch (WIP) - '"It is vital, major, this letter be delivered."'
From Hand of the Baptist (WIP) - 'Staring intently towards Valetta's distant guardian wall, General Napoleon Bonaparte leaned against L'Orient's rail, his grip alternately tense then relaxed as the French flagship dipped and rose on a gentle Mediterranean swell.'
The last one's too long, but that's early days yet ;)
A few opening paragraphs (from the short stories I've written so far):
'I’ve always feared people, but this morning they are everywhere, rushing about with their empty milk bottles and jars. They appear to emerge from every nook and corner, from behind the apartment blocks, from behind trees and garbage containers. Just like my mum said about the cockroaches in the kitchen, they come from the dark.' (Drawings)
'I can’t sleep tonight. The air has a different consistency, it is thick and unbreathable, it goes inside me like a liquid and I feel as if it never leaves. He is gone.' (Animal)
'Just before waking up, when you cannot defend yourself yet, panic creeps in. It has been lurking all night in a dark corner, waiting for this gate and for a few moments you are its prey. Your eyes flinch open. The morning light burns them, but you don’t close them back.' (You, when I'm not)
'There was something relentlessly unforgiving in the outside world. It was vast and heavy and crude and one had no chance to go unnoticed.' (The winter garden)
'We were soon climbing the snowy hill. My mother was first, struggling with the pushchair. Then came Marius, holding Elly who was crying for her doll and pointing to the distant house. I was following them, dragging after me the imperfect circle of the moon, like a fluorescent balloon.' (Hiding places)
'I, unfortunately, am not Borges, but I’ve always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library. This, of course, is only a bookshop, and bookshops cannot aspire so high. They deal too much with money, and books leave their shelves without coming back. Yet, I prefer a bookshop. I prefer to be in the tangency of things. In a way, I prefer the purgatory.' (Purgatory)
I'm sorry if this has taken too much space and added too little value to the comment thread. I believe that the first sentence, or the first paragraph, is indeed very important. But it should also be followed by a very good story/novel etc.
Excellent first opening line, Megan.
David, my opinion is in good faith. My earlier reply is the same for your last post, apart from the words, 'just a work session'.
Adrian
I can see your point - and it is definitely the received wisdom - but... Come on! Please! Don't quote me out of context...
"When it comes to writing, whether it is beginning a story. a chapter or just a work session I think that the first sentence, the first few words and even the first page are not significant.
:-O Blasphemy!
I am serious though. From a scribbler's viewpoint the essntial thing is simply to start scribbling - the darn thing will probably get at least edited at some point in the future."
Context does give my opinion a slightly different meaning...
David