"I paused with my finger over the [mind blown] emoji..."

Insert your own evocative emoji and take it from here.

#WritingPrompt #FirstLines #Fiction #Writing #TakeItFromHere

I have discovered the greatest first lines ever written, from the start of “The Journal of a Disappointed Man” by B.F. Cummings:

“January 3.

Am writing an essay on the life-history of insects and have abandoned the idea of writing on ‘How Cats Spend their Time’.”

#FirstLines #cats

#Books #Writing #FirstLines #DrMardy

May I recommend this website and Dr. Mardy's email of famous quotes?

https://greatopeninglines.com/

more #FirstLines

If you take the train to Matlock in Derbyshire, and can find a cabbie at the station who knows the way, you can drive the few miles out to Over Ferndale.

In the mountains just up the coast from the capital–but further away than it seems on the map, what with mountain and forest roads being what they are–is the village of Sletzig, home of the world's most troublesome goat.

"Excuse me, Madame, may I help you?" I asked in a tone just on the deniable side of outright insolence.

more #FirstLines

"Even before I found the body–one that shouldn't have been there–I knew in my spine and under my fingernails: something wrong and foul was growing in the Garden of Bones"

"This is, at least partly, the story of a terrible mistake."

"Socrates said that the only true wisdom is to know that you know nothing."

"I am in two minds about setting these events down, since no physical trace remains that can corroborate my version of them."

more #FirstLines

"And now the shipping forecast, issued by the Met Office on behalf of the Maritime and Thaumometry Agency at 12pm today."

"Throughout our city you will find small aggressions, little jibes and shunnings, petty hostility wrought into the paving and furniture of every street."

"I hate the town centre, now, after the event."

#FirstLines

"This broken scrap, this splintered, imperfect chunk of pine log would do."

"My dearest Florence, you of all people know how much I have longed to find useful employment in mankind's greatest project"

"Winter has loosened his grip on the earth, blossom has started to cluster and fall from the apple tree, and the thing under the cabin is killing birds again."

"Not a lot of people could afford genuine vodka."

"For the last few thousand days I have been walking uphill."

One of the things I collect is first lines of books. Here's one from one I haven't read:

There's a time and a place for erect nipples, but the back of a Seattle police car definitely isn't it.

Things We Do In The Dark by Jennifer Hillier #books #firstlines

RT @three_squares
“I powered up the transporter and said a silent prayer.I had no idea what I was going to do if it didn’t work. My transporter was cheap,so even a droplet of moisture,or more likely, a grain of sand, would cause it to short.” #firstlines from the amazing @Nnedi highly recommended!

Three SFF Opening Lines and Why They’re Intriguing

I’m excited to share with you this new series for 2021! It focuses on the all-important first line of a novel; the sentence that shapes the tone and very essence of the novel that follows those words. While a first line doesn’t have to shock you to your core, it should intrigue you enough to want to keep

http://lunastationquarterly.com/three-sff-opening-lines-and-why-theyre-intriguing/

#firstlines #impressions #literarydiscussion