Like the opening volley in a battle, what is in a first line? Should it be tame or rivet a reader's attention? Can an entire story be inspired by a single line? How much power does the opening line have? Can it make or break a piece? - Darkkin
Sometimes it does make the piece. Sometimes it just sets the scene for the piece to be made. The opening line of Kafka's Metamorphosis kind of steals the show. It sticks with you the entire story. Many of my favorite authors though, I could not tell you what the beginning scene even was. I get so wrapped up in the characters' lives that the opening line doesn't matter.
@BFGuru Ha! I planned on starting that short story tomorrow or as soon as I am done with The Stoker. An instructor of mine mentioned to our class one day that he pays strict attention to the opening paragraphs of any novel. I recently read Middlemarch by George Elliot, a great novel by the way, and the open just touched me right on the spot: Who that cares much to know the history of man, and how the mysterious mixture behaves under the varying experiments of Time, has not dwelt, at least briefly, on the life of Saint Theresa, has not smiled with some gentleness at the thought of the little girl walking forth one morning hand-in-hand with her still smaller brother, to go and seek martyrdom in the country of the Moors? George Elliot, Middlemarch. Other novels such as Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte starts with more of a personal, first person kind of narration. Both were kind of gripping, but I always prefer the larger picture such as the one shown here by Elliot. So my answer is, yes, I do believe that the opening lines of story can make or break it.
Beginnings are something which plague me, I can never find suitable point to 'start' for my story which had led to the creation of some pretty outlandish circumstances. Finding a good beginning point is always ruined when I bring up something referred to or mentioned prior to the actual story point, and it has probably gone a bit too far. I've somehow managed to wind the clock back more then three thousand years to the dawning era itself... and managed to go back even further to before the creation of the world. Then I go back even further to the 'gods' themselves... and went even further back until the 'god's individual back stories' where they all came together to begin a specific process occurred. Then, through increasing demands on character and plot points, I've managed to go back even further to display their individual lives prior to that event. I'm off the deep-end with this and the worst thing is... its relevant to the actual plot I began with. Actually, instrumental. Thankfully most of it is still in outline stage (Barring almost two thousand years of political, art and intellectual fluff, only 500 years actually matter. I began at a zero point, outlined, then fleshed out the exact details of hundreds of years in the chronology. Now everything reads like Tolkien's timelines! Where in the world do I start? The beginning of all beginnings aka 'the origin point' or the 'sealing of the great evil' the 'awakening of the great evil'. Also popping around (because it actually goes that far) is 'dawn of time' and 'before the dawn of time'. I hate flashbacks, but in doing so I've actually made a monster of a problem. Let's not get into 'length' because that's another point, but I just don't know where to cut and begin, after all its 99% worldbuilding for me.
That is certainly a strange problem to have. Most writers absolutely tear through the opening chapters of a manuscript than struggle with the middle game and even more with the end game. One word I will bring up is subtlety. Don't give the reader every single detail about everything. Keep some things mysterious and unknown about your characters so at the end of the book they want one more chapter, they have one more question they want answered.
Sounds to me that is what you want to write about. So be it! Write about how the gods attained their philosophies on existence, or whatever suits your flavor of writing. If what you write turns into a monster, at least you have it written down and no real reason to go back to it. Also, a fun idea to play with, the Philosopher Nietzsche believed in something called "The Eternal Occurrence." If you get some time, check it out
yes, I agree that you need not give all the details of the world you have created in the actual story. Don't get carried away by the awesomeness of your world. So, what to include and what to leave out? And where to begin? It all comes down to understanding the basics: whose story are you telling? Where does the main climax occur? In simple terms include every details relevent to the plot, and start as near to the climax as possible. If nothing works, just keep writing until you have a first draft which will give you the big picture. You can move the scenes and chapters around to see which alignment works the best.
Thanks for the replies. Mark Archibald, yeah it a problem in reverse because the middle to the end is already crafted, but finding a good point becomes harder and harder when the story comes up with important info. I have the 'forging of the ring' as my ideal beginning rather then the introduction of the main characters simply because the main characters are present and can't die. Its really weird when you introduce gods into the mix. Shane Grayson, I'll have to look it up. I got to make a library trip soon. Killbill, its not so much about the side details, I have plenty of side stuff that is present and visible in the work, yet never comes up specifically other then being a component in something else. Such as proper wood for housing, medicinal trees and plants, even staple foods and dishes of the land. Culture is exceedingly important as well, so the undying gods spend time not on flimsy matters of entertainment, but lasting monuments of civil importance. The problem is, I'm telling the story of the gods and their puppetry of a world which serves as their beloved garden. The gods themselves take highly active roles and fill actual tasks such as smiths, tailors, librarians, botanists and of course rulers. Some of the most important figures is a botanist who studies plants and manages to create a synthetic oil (no natural equivalent exists) which is instrumental in the plot. Warrior gods are few, simply because they can't kill the others and they can defeat mortal armies without any risk whatsoever. A god shows up on the battlefield and it immediately comes to an end, battles are pointless and war itself is a concept which the people do not understand. It is not a utopia either, but the problems I keep running into is the point to begin, since my characters are 3000+ years old and have huge life histories. They are not some teenager with a 10 year history and they can do almost anything they want. None of them are 'hermits' or 'sleeping gods', its probably like saying George Washington still leads the United States. Or Elizabeth I is still ruling all of England. Picking up mid-life is fine, but I feel that their established motives and goals are kinda fabricated and without good reason unless the reader sees why this botanist god does what he does, or this librarian god has such a desire to amass all knowledge. I guess I may have no choice but to just begin at a point and stick with it, I'm going further and further from the 'plot focus' as to be irrelevant to the main storyline.
It really depends on the type of book, and the audience for the book. It should foreshadow events and give the reader an idea of the tone, the pacing, and the mood of the story. I think a successful first line holds inner and outer conflict.
The first line must grab the reader's attention - it can "break" the piece in as much as that the reader will stop reading after skimming the first few lines of your book. So will the agent, and the publisher, in all honesty. You lose their attention, it doesn't matter how great the rest of the piece is.
Unless you made grammar mistakes or something silly like that I don't think agents will stop reading after the first few lines. I mostly agree with kaylin if it is the first paragraph of a short story we are speaking about. But the first line don't have to have everything, just having one of those things will do. Anyway, I don't think too much about the opening line in my first draft. My first lines usually come to me after my first drafts just like my titles. Personally I don't like first lines which scream to grab my attention. I like those which subtly lure me to the next line.
