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lirazel brought this to my reading page and several others have joined in since, so what the heck? I will too.Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favourite opening line.
So, without further ado:
1. “William!”
From Frank was my personal compensation for Calcutta. (The Blake & Avery series: William Avery/Frank Macpherson)
One word. We're off to a great start here, aren't we? 😂
2. Six had gone outside after tea.
From Love Is A Language. (The Watchmaker of Filigree Street: Thaniel Steepleton/Mori Keita)
3. On the seventh day of the eight month in the second year of the Eien era, the divination master Abe no Seimei selected an auspicious day to perform the Rite of the Fiery Star in order to protect the Ichijo Emperor and his principal wife from the negative influence of a celestial aberration.
From Entry for the seventeenth day of the eight month of the second year of the Eien era. (Onmyouji: Abe no Seimei/Minamoto no Hiromasa)
4. Jacksonville was a lawless town.
From Shootout At The O.C. Corral. (All Elite Wrestling: Orange Cassidy, Chris Jericho, The Inner Circle, various cameos)
5. “I could get used to this,” they’d both said, and Joey thought he actually could get used to it, cruising around with the top down like they were both still nobodies back home, cutting it up in gas station minimarts and just shooting the shit and taking in the city sights.
From Morning After. (All Elite Wrestling: Joey Janela, Sonny Kiss)
6. Red wakes up and stumbles into the shower.
From Rat Race. (Injection: Red, Noble, various others)
7. The cell was small, and dark, and located at the end of a long corridor.
From Choices Made And Those Not Taken. (Baldur's Gate: Charname/Rasaad yn Bashir)
8. The day dawned fine and clear, and the weather held as they journeyed through the wilderness to Nashkel.
From Myrtul 14. (Baldur's Gate: Charname/Rasaad yn Bashir, various party members)
9. That night she drank herself to sleep.
From Most of us don't stay here that long: (The Half-Drowned King: Gerta/Svanhild Eysteinsdottar )
10. In my dream Felix is sucking my cock.
From Dreams, Unwarded. (The Doctrine of Labyrinths: Felix Harrowgate/Mildmay Foxe)
11. This is what he should have done: waited until the evening downpour began and slipped into his tent.
From "What's to forgive?" I said. (The Blake & Avery series: Jeremiah Blake/William Avery)
12. I retired to the study after dinner, claiming a need to see to my correspondence.
From A Tentative Correspondence. (The Blake & Avery series: William Avery, Jeremiah Blake)
13. About a septad-day later we were out in the gardens, Felix holding court over his circle of admirers and me sort of hovering off to the side half-forgotten, on account of not being a hocus.
From A Theory of Reversals. (The Doctrine of Labyrinths: Felix Harrowgate/Mildmay Foxe)
14. “It is certainly...not what we expected,” Maia said at last.
From Diplomatic Gifts. (The Goblin Emperor: Maia Drazhar, Cala Athmaza, Csevet Aisava, Deret Beshelar, Captain Orthema)
15. “Well,” I said.
A Continuation. (The Blake & Avery series: Jeremiah Blake, William Avery)
16. Kiru Athmaza approached the horse in the same calm manner with which she had approached every challenge since Telimezh had first met her.
From Lessons. (The Goblin Emperor: Kiru Athmaza, Telimezh)
17. To rule was...not what he had anticipated.
From To Dream. (Thor (MCU): Loki, Thor)
18. The captain is in a fine state when he returns to his quarters that night.
From Nothing But Trouble. (Guardians of the Galaxy (MCU): Yondu Udonta/Kraglin Obfonteri)
19. She knows he is a kind man, even though his statements are often perplexing.
From Milano Wallflower. (Guardians of the Galaxy (MCU): Mantis/Drax)
20. The kings of Akielos and Vere spent much of the year apart, each attending to the affairs of his realm.
From Royal Circuit. (The Captive Prince: Damen/Laurent)
So, patterns. I think there are four ways to start a fic: 1) description of the physical setting, 2) characters talking, 3) description of the action, and 4) character's internal monologue. I favor these in reverse order, 8:7:3:2. Figuring out what characters are thinking is pretty much how I get into the headspace to start writing a scene, and from there, an entire fic.
I'm much likelier to use the first sentence to begin building out what's going on instead of to drop readers into the thick of things (and then gradually parcel out what's happening). Nos. 10 and 14 are the obvious exceptions here.
I stick to whatever POV canon uses. If a book is written in first person, my fic is in first person. If it's in third, or I'm writing a character other than the one from whose perspective a book is written, the fic is in third. Ditto for all other media: movies, comics, TV, video games.
For books, I generally use the same tense in which they were written, and past tense for all other media.
My opening sentences are of varying lengths, probably because I generally only begin writing fics once I have an entire opening paragraph in mind. That's sort of the base unit with which writing becomes viable for me.
My favorite opening sentences don't necessarily come from my favorite fics. Or rather, favorite opening sentences < favorite opening paragraphs < favorite fics.
My favorite opening sentence is a three way tie between:
- About a septad-day later we were out in the gardens, Felix holding court over his circle of admirers and me sort of hovering off to the side half-forgotten, on account of not being a hocus.
- “It is certainly...not what we expected,” Maia said at last.
- She knows he is a kind man, even though his statements are often perplexing.
これで以上です。
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I also liked each successive book more, I think because the worldbuilding was constantly developing and shifting, and because Mehitabel is such a great character and I loved getting some of the story from her perspective.
That said, I could never read these back-to-back...
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