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Sep. 3, 2008
First lines
I'm going to put out a small test for you guys. No, there's no reason for it at all. I'm just curious about what you'll say. Here are the first line or two from a few books picked from my bookshelf, pretty much at random. My goal is for you to read the following 7 opening lines and tell me in a comment if you think you would like to read the book. Bonus points if you know what the book is. Ready? Go!
1. "High, high overhead the horse circled slowly, majestically."
2. "I, Cleopatra, Princess of the Nile, write this in my own hand."
3. "Kate O'Malley had been in the dungeon since dawn."
4. "When twelve-year-old Andrea Carter brought her golden palomino mare to a skidding halt near her favorite fishing spot, she expected to find a bubbling, splashing creek full of trout just waiting to be snatched up for supper. Instead, she found a dead man."
5. "During the night Detjens died and the rest of them were almost glad."
6. "Shiloh was not an easy place to locate, even with a road map."
7. "Sergeant Eugene Skinner, USMC, ran a baleful eye over his honor guard detachment."
I'll put the titles in a post tomorrow. |
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Posted by 
Posted by Miss Laura 
Sep. 3, 2008 - Untitled Comment
2. "I, Cleopatra, Princess of the Nile, write this in my own hand." Would read. Don't know. I'm not into egotistical openings, but I'm fascinated with history.
3. "Kate O'Malley had been in the dungeon since dawn." Would read. I recognize the character from a series, but haven't read/don't know title or author.
4. "When twelve-year-old Andrea Carter brought her golden palomino mare to a skidding halt near her favorite fishing spot, she expected to find a bubbling, splashing creek full of trout just waiting to be snatched up for supper. Instead, she found a dead man." Wouldn't read, don't know. It intrigues me, but the writing is bloated.
5. "During the night Detjens died and the rest of them were almost glad." Would read, don't know.
6. "Shiloh was not an easy place to locate, even with a road map." Might read, don't know. Too vague, I can't even tell the genre.
7. "Sergeant Eugene Skinner, USMC, ran a baleful eye over his honor guard detachment." Probably wouldn't read, don't know.
I want a first sentence to hook me in with conflict or a sense of character. Most of these sentences don't do that. But I won't ever judge a book by one sentence. It could be a one-paragraph whopper, you know? I still want that opening line to perform well, but I give it leeway; it may need help. Not everyone is the next Tolstoy or Austen. :)
Jess