Once upon a time…looking at the opening lines of books.
Thanks for the shout out, Lisa! Great post! I am honoured to be considered as a great first line writer alongside the likes of Neil Gaiman!!!
Originally posted on Welcome to my Library:
Trinity College Library, Dublin with Holly in her Santa hat. Photo: Lisa Fleetwood December 2013.
I love a good first line, it can be intriguing, beautifully written, scary or thought provoking. Or boring!
Thanks to my friend and writer Maureen Flynn for this idea. She posted on Facebook asking a few writer friends to put up the first line of the first three chapters of their WIP or ‘work in progress’. It really made me think about the first line of my novel, so I decided to do some research and look back through some of the books I’ve read this year and re-read some of their opening lines.
The first line in my list below is by acclaimed Australian novelist Richard Flanagan. His book The Narrow Road to the Deep North was a hard read (for me) but beautifully written – as you can see by his opening line. He has just been shortlisted…
View original 1,075 more words
