Hatrack River Writers Workshop: A fun first-lines exercise.

This is topic A fun first-lines exercise. in forum Writing Class at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by SharonID (Member # 5059) on :

I want to share a writing exercise that has been very helpful to me, in hopes that it may be helpful to other folks here. I got the idea from a book called What If?, Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers, by Anne Bernays and Pamela Palmer.

The exercise has to do with those all-important first lines, the ones that you hope will hook your readers enough so that they go on to read the rest. Basically it consists of making up good first sentences to stories without worrying at all about whether or not you have any idea of what the rest of the story would be. It's sort of like freewriting in terms of feeling free and taking the viewpoint that there are no wrong answers. Just think up lines that might start a good story, but don't worry about the story while you're thinking up the lines. Later, some of the lines might inspire a story, but you shouldn't worry about that one bit while you're writing the lines.

The authors suggested getting up a collection of these first lines in a dedicated notebook, so I started a small pocket notebook (which I titled "Life in the First Line" ). I don't pull it off on a daily basis, but I do try to add to the book at some point each week. I'll share a few of mine here, and if anyone else tries this idea and wants to share some of the results here, feel free.

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Bettilu had been riding for a fall longer than anyone could ever hope to stay on top of a life that bucked the way hers did.

As Marty reached to turn off the bedside lamp, she noticed the long drapery billowing into the room—perfectly natural except for the fact that a former tenant had painted the window shut and Marty never had been able to pry it open.

"Honey, what's that body doing in the garden?"

Maudie had a face that could have sunk a thousand ships.

The funnel cloud was getting closer as Dopli dogged the hatch of the research pod and yelled, "Hang on!"

I thought living alone would put an end to finding all the furniture had been moved around when I came home each evening.

Roy had never seen such a perfect day for a sail.

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If you try this idea, I hope you'll find it as fun and interesting as I have. Good luck and write on!

Regards,

SharonID

Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :

Going for more than just a sentence here but...some of the ones that keep teasing me:

20 hours ago Chloe hadn’t cared a whit about the Giant Green Gerbils (no, not the Evil Robot Monkeys. The Gerbils are NICE. The bad guys are out to get the GGGs, Chloe is their savior.)

The smell was what she noticed first. It was always the smell. Antiseptic cleanser and curry. Spaceports were all similar, but all a little different too. This antiseptic cleanser was clearly citrus-based.

"Hello," said the computer.

Josie crashed her lander again. Dad was going to be so pissed.