This week: Mystery of First Lines! Edited by: eyestar~*  
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  {size:4] Hiya readers! Here I am back again as editor for this week! Let's have some fun with first lines.{/c] |
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Everyone knows the first line of a story needs to lure the reader into the story. We all remember "It was a dark and stormy night" which set an dramatic atmosphere and "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" where the contrary thought made us ponder and read on.
Here are some thriller first lines that rock!
"When I think of my wife, I think of her head." from Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Certainly set up a dark tone with a dark marriage.
"I feel compelled to report that at the moment of death, my entire life did not pass before my eyes in a flash.” from I is for Innocent by Sue Grafton. It made me wonder who was speaking and were they still alive to tell the story.
"Some years later, on a tugboat in the Gulf of Mexico, Joe Coughlin’s feet were placed in a tub of cement.”
from Live by Night by Dennis Lehane I would surmise from this one line that the character was into something bad and execution gave me the idea that the time period was a while back!
"Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura drove a car off a bridge." from Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. Well, this certainly caught my curiosity as I wanted to know why!
"Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him. from Brighton Rock by Graham Greene. I wanted to know how he knew! What had happened in that three hours.
"I opened my eyes to see the rat taking a piss in my coffee mug." from Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis. dare I imagine where this is taking place and what the character is like. EW!
"“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” from The Gunslinger by Stephen King. This sets up a conflict and evokes a question as to who the man is and what had he done.
 What makes an appealing first line?
From the examples above we can see the first line of a story should:
 create a sense of character, conflict, setting, mood, theme, or style — or any combination
 make the reader ask questions.
 push the reader to read the second line.
 be vivid and lure us into an image
 lead the reader to a scene by setting mood, tone
 establish a unique voice
Your first line could:
set up a conflict or indicate a death or a crime
be funny,
encapsulate the whole story
suggest the genre
begin with a theme or philosophical idea
 be about a character, where you show what is interesting.
 First lines intrigue and rouse curiousity in some manner, evoking the rise of a question or image in the reader's mind. They may even influence whether the reader will read on.  So take time to ponder and develop the best one as you write on!
 Do you have a favourite "hooking" first line from your book list?
 Have you created an alluring first line that you are proud of?
Share in the response submission area below!
Thanks for reading.
eyestar
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Check out these first lines and read on!
"Rebecca's senses reeled as she rushed to the basin just in time."
"The click of my shoes echoes down the hallway, but it's the smell I notice first."
| | Payback (18+)
The small town has trouble with gangs, until a saviour comes to assist.
#2231310 by Sumojo  |
" The red neon sign flashed on and off in the darkness."
| |  | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#2232441 by Not Available. |
"By the door she lays in wait"
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WE NEVER SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE THAT NIGHT, and it had cost the lives of three innocent civilians and one egotistical moron.
"
Lionel set his glass of Viking beer on the seatback tray, pulled the letter from his jacket pocket and read it yet again:"
"The cell was dark, the kind of dark that bleeds into your mind, driving away any sanity you had left, leeching all hope from your mind."
"Lacy picked up the light green assignment page." |
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Do you have a favourite "hooking" first line from your book list?
Have you created an alluring first line that you are proud of?
Share in the response submission area below!
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Mystery: February 03, 2021 Issue [#10589]
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