 12 questions about writing fiction-- Question # 1
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Oct. 3rd, 2007 @ 02:13 pm 
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It's harder than it looks, summoning courage and e-mailing several writers to ask them to share their views on fiction. Since I'm lucky enough to have the treasure of a few writers' e-mail addresses, though, it would seem like a horrible waste if I were to let such an opportunity get past me, so I put my curiosity in written-form, closed my eyes and pressed Send. Each writer to whom I sent my questionnaire took time out and had the charm and the generositiy to reply, and I should've known, all along, that they would have.
Back in June I was fortunate enough to get frank perspectives on fiction from the readers' side. Here comes the mate to that bookend, presented in installments, rather than in one gigantic post:
1) How much importance do you place on The First Sentence, both in your work and in the works that inspired you?
Marika Christian:
Well the opening sentence is what gets you to the next one. I don't know that the first sentence is the end all be all – but I think you have to have a strong first paragraph. I think that you have to give your reader a reason to go on. They have to be curious enough in the character, or with what is going on to continue. I think once a reader is invested – they'll forgive a lot because they like the character or style, but not in the beginning you have to earn them. For me, it's mostly about character, and I think I have done that with my main character, at least I hope so, otherwise no one is going to read it.
For me, Elizabeth Peters is the absolute best at first sentences and opening paragraphs– and seeing how she is the writer I most want to be like, I've got some work to do.
The first three paragraphs of the first Amelia Peabody series Crocodile on the Sandbank - is absolute perfection. There is no way you can read them and not fall in love with Amelia and want to know more about her. Now, in all honesty, I do know someone who has read the Peabody books, and doesn't like them. This person isn't someone I respect, or like.
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'Nathan Burgoine:
I wrangle and wrangle with The First Sentence (as you so correctly capitalize). It's not that I'm a fickle reader, but when I read, a clever title and first line go a long way to sinking in that literary hook. Or, if I can mangle that metaphor a bit, it's the worm that makes the hook worthwhile. "Call me Ishmael." "They're all dead now." "When I was quite small I would sometimes dream of a city - which was strange because it began before I even knew what a city was." I remember the first lines of many of the books I enjoyed the most - though it wigs customers out a little if I quote them when selling them the book.
I honestly think that that first sentence should say something that teases you, jars you, or just makes you hungry for the next. If it doesn't, it's not necessarily the death of the story before it even starts, but when the first sentence does grab you in some way, it gives the reader inertia, and as we all know, a reader in motion tends to stay in motion...
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David Puterbaugh:
A lot. As much as a writer tries (or hopes) to grab their reader with the first sentence, I think the writer also needs to be able to justify (or answer for themselves) why they are choosing to begin their story at that moment in time, with that particular line.
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Timothy J. Lambert:
Probably too much, for two reasons. The first reason is that I always read the first page of a book when I'm shopping in a bookstore. If I'm invested in the first page, chances are I'll like the rest of the book. The first sentence is a first impression. The second reason I put too much importance on the first sentence is because I read my first sentence hundreds of times while I'm working on a novel or short story. After reading it so many times I can get sick of my first sentence. I'll revise it. I'll change it back. I'll delete it and rewrite it. After looking at it thirty nine times, it can lose all meaning. Usually around the sixty seventh time I've read it I know I've gotten it right.
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Greg Herren:
I place a lot of importance on the first sentence, and I think I do them fairly well. I want to grab the reader and pull them in with that sentence...I probably don't do this as well as I would like, but c'est la vie. I try. There are so many great opening lines in other author's works...and I love nothing better than a great opening sentence: "Last night I dreamed I went to Manderly again." "This time, I swear it wasn't my fault." "Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men rarely noticed this when caught by her charms." "Call me Ishmael." and on and on and on....
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Becky Cochrane:
There’s something to be said for “you had me at hello,” especially if you can subsequently deliver the goods in a story or novel. Out of the thousands of books I’ve read, however, I can immediately call to mind less than a dozen first sentences, and many of those were written fifty or more years ago, for what that’s worth.
In my writing and reading choices, I’m considering so many things that it only now occurs to me that I probably haven’t thought enough about first sentences. I do think the sentence “Call me Ishmael” probably implies more in three words than a lot of writing does in three thousand. I definitely see the value in both literary and light fiction in giving a reader something in that first sentence that engages him or her.
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(More Q & A to come....)
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I think it's only fair that you should answer these questions, too, Mark G. Harris, as you are yourself a gifted writer.
I enjoy reading everyone's answers, and Herman Melville would certainly have a reason to be proud.
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| From: | ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) n8an |
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October 3rd, 2007 10:27 pm (UTC) |
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Indeed. Pony up, cowboy!
(Rock on, Moby!)
I feel I must concur with la Cochrane. Answer up, Mr. Harris!
I agree. We've shown you ours, it's only fair. :)
We've shown you ours, it's only fair.
Hey, are you that kid who grew up next door to me?
I thought you looked familiar. ;)
So many possible responses....can't...pick...one...
Your restraint is admirable.
Very cool, post. But I agree with the writers... fair's fair.
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| From: | ebandit |
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October 3rd, 2007 09:01 pm (UTC) |
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"It was a dark and stormy night"
I think the first sentence does a lot for a story. I didn't realize it before I read the authors answers but it is the first impression. Sometimes an amazing amount of the story is conveyed in that one sentence. I have often wondered if those authors went back and wrote the first sentence AFTER writing the rest.
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It was a dark and stormy night.
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Has anyone ever written a successful book or story using that as a first line? I know I'd be tempted to use it if I were Stephen King.
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| From: | ebandit |
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October 4th, 2007 11:11 am (UTC) |
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Re: It was a dark and stormy night.
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Indeed it is the first line of one of my favorite books. In 1962 Madeleine L'Engle obtained a copyright on her book that became a Newberry Award winner. The book is "A Wrinkle in Time." It is a rather simple story but has lots of hidden meaning.
I would say winning a Newberry Award and having a new edition published 40 years later makes it a success.
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Re: It was a dark and stormy night.
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Thank you, it just goes to show even a cliche will work in the hands of a master.
"This time it wasn't my fault." Vicky Bliss --- Elizabeth Peters See she's BRILLANT
I was rereading this .. and WOW David expects a lot from his opening sentence! I have to go back and read mine to see if I can justify opening my story there... thanks for the homework David. And I have never read "Call me Ismael"
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| From: | mary919 |
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October 3rd, 2007 10:16 pm (UTC) |
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"I get the willies when I see closed doors." - Joseph Heller, "Something Happened"
Hi, I'm Mary. I'm new to the discussion, but I can't ever pass up the chance to pimp my favorite first line :).
Hi, Mary. I love the novel Something Happened. Did you ever read Heller's God Knows, another of my favorites?
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| From: | mary919 |
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October 3rd, 2007 11:31 pm (UTC) |
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I never got through that one, but haven't looked at it in ages. I need to try again :)
I can't ever pass up the chance to pimp my favorite first line
That's a great first line, Mary. : )
I, too, would be interested in your response Mark. I think that the first line can either break or make an author's work, sometimes. It really depends on the first paragraph for me, as a reader.
I enjoyed reading everyone's response. This kind of question makes me appreciate author's words that much more.
These responses are bare, insightful and smart-as-fuck. Flat-out priceless. I'm grateful.
But, remember... I'm the one asking the questions. If you're clever, that ought to reveal me, my opinions and what I consider important about writing. : )
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| From: | n8an |
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October 4th, 2007 10:46 am (UTC) |
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Oh, please! You think stroking our egos will work? I grew up in a British household, son. When my ego gets stroked, I'm now conditioned to say, 'wait, you're tricking me.'
Answer the questions, mate. :)
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