What’s in a First Line?
Hi, This week we’re talking first lines.
Writers call first lines hooks—words that pull readers immediately into the story and, hopefully, keep them reading right through to THE END.
Here are some of my favorite first lines from books old and new:
1. “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
2. “Ruth remembered drowning.” Christina Schwarz, Drowning Ruth
3. “I was born into a cliché-loving middle class Virginia family.” Don’t Fall Off the Mountain, Shirley Maclaine
4. “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.” The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
5. “I have a friend who keeps asking me why I am writing this book.”
Me, Katherine Hepburn
6. “I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.” The Diary of a Young Girl (The Definitive Edition), Anne Frank
7. “So this, said Kay to herself, is the sort of person you’ve become; a person whose clocks and wrist-watches have stopped, and who tells the time, instead, by the particular kind of cripple arriving at her landlord’s door.” The Night Watch, Sarah Waters
Here’s this week’s question:
Q: What are some of your favorite first lines from books, short stories, etc.?
Now on to a related subject.
On Thursday, October 16—for one day only—my publisher, JMS Books, http://www.jms-books.com, is offering my lesbian historical, The View from 16 Podwale Street, at a big discount. I hope you’ll give it a try. This novella e book won a 2012 Rainbow Award.
Writing The View from 16 Podwale Street gave me a terrific opportunity to use Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca–quoted above—as a literary device in the story. I hope you’ll give it a try. Then let me know your thoughts.
A short synopsis of The View from 16 Podwale Street:
“It’s April 1939 in Warsaw, Poland. The houses on Podwale Street look so much alike. Yet within the walls of number 16, two women very much in love have created a safe and private world that is now threatened by the mounting tide of Nazism. Will they escape to freedom or is it already too late?”
And like Colombo: “Just One More Thing.”
On the same day, Thursday, October 16, I’ll be talking again to my readers in Italy and guest posting about the award winning anthology, The Other Man: 21 Writers Speak Candidly About Sex, Love, Infidelity, & Moving On. Come visit. There’ll also be giveaways of the book.
Here’s the link for Thursday:
http://erinekeller.wordpress.com
Thank you for stopping by and I’ll see you next Tuesday.
The best is yet to come,
Paul
Writers call first lines hooks—words that pull readers immediately into the story and, hopefully, keep them reading right through to THE END.
Here are some of my favorite first lines from books old and new:
1. “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
2. “Ruth remembered drowning.” Christina Schwarz, Drowning Ruth
3. “I was born into a cliché-loving middle class Virginia family.” Don’t Fall Off the Mountain, Shirley Maclaine
4. “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.” The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
5. “I have a friend who keeps asking me why I am writing this book.”
Me, Katherine Hepburn
6. “I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.” The Diary of a Young Girl (The Definitive Edition), Anne Frank
7. “So this, said Kay to herself, is the sort of person you’ve become; a person whose clocks and wrist-watches have stopped, and who tells the time, instead, by the particular kind of cripple arriving at her landlord’s door.” The Night Watch, Sarah Waters
Here’s this week’s question:
Q: What are some of your favorite first lines from books, short stories, etc.?
Now on to a related subject.
On Thursday, October 16—for one day only—my publisher, JMS Books, http://www.jms-books.com, is offering my lesbian historical, The View from 16 Podwale Street, at a big discount. I hope you’ll give it a try. This novella e book won a 2012 Rainbow Award.
Writing The View from 16 Podwale Street gave me a terrific opportunity to use Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca–quoted above—as a literary device in the story. I hope you’ll give it a try. Then let me know your thoughts.
A short synopsis of The View from 16 Podwale Street:
“It’s April 1939 in Warsaw, Poland. The houses on Podwale Street look so much alike. Yet within the walls of number 16, two women very much in love have created a safe and private world that is now threatened by the mounting tide of Nazism. Will they escape to freedom or is it already too late?”
And like Colombo: “Just One More Thing.”
On the same day, Thursday, October 16, I’ll be talking again to my readers in Italy and guest posting about the award winning anthology, The Other Man: 21 Writers Speak Candidly About Sex, Love, Infidelity, & Moving On. Come visit. There’ll also be giveaways of the book.
Here’s the link for Thursday:
http://erinekeller.wordpress.com
Thank you for stopping by and I’ll see you next Tuesday.
The best is yet to come,
Paul
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Hi, Anne, those are just great. Love them. There are so many great first lines. Thanks for dropping by. All the best, Paul
I admit, I can't drag any memorable first lines out of my head. (Okay, everybody knows A Tale of Two Cities--"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...") So I pulled a few books from my shelf (not all that much left after the last mammoth purge before moving). And this is what I found:Once upon a time in deep winter,when the snowflakes were falling like feathers from the sky, a queen was sitting by a window with a black ebony frame, and she was sewing. (Snow White)
Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, "and what is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversations?" (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)
Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)
Mr. Hungerton, her father, really was the most tactless person upon earth--a fluffy, feathery, untidy cockatoo of a man, perfectly good-natured, but absolutely centered upon his own silly self. (The Lost World--Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.)
I'm actually surprised at which books I chose to keep when hundreds and hundreds of others I'd accumulated over the years--a truckload of them--went in the moving sale or to my friends or as donations. Very revealing. Second childhood, perhaps?
p.s. My favorite childhood book was Uncle Wiggily stories. The first lines weren't all that distinctive, but the last lines always were: "And in the next chapter, if the loaf of bread doesn't get the toothache and jump out of the oven into the dishpan, I'll tell you about Uncle Wiggily helping Dr. Possum. (God, I'm old!)
Oh, Jean, these are so fun. The Snow White one is a stunner. Also Alice. Have to say I haven't read The Lost World but most of his other books. I'm for a second childhood too. Think I'm in my third or maybe my fourth. My hubby thinks I'm the silliest person he's ever met. Uncle Wiggly. I had those, too. And all kinds of games. I remember I played with my Uncle Wiggly Tidily Winks game for years. Wonder what happened to it?
Thanks so much for sharing these great opening lines. Hugs your way. And you're not old, just youthening. Paul
One of my favorite first lines is from EB White's middle grade novel, Charlotte's Web. "Where's Papa going with that axe?"
Oh, LOL. That is terrific, Charlie. Now I've got to read that one. Great to see you here.More later,
Paul
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