Off to a Good --Though Slow -- Start
Nov. 28th, 2006 06:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
queenoftheskiesSo I started the next novel this morning.
I wanted to do it last night, but I was EXHAUSTED (probably from going back to work which is a complete physical, mental, and amotional drain even on the best of days) and just couldn't get myself going.
I'm clear on the basic plot and the basic threads that make this novel up, but don't have all the details yet. Have some pretty cool scenes, I think, lots of angst, good set-up for tension coming from several directions.
I set up my manuscript format and sat and stared and stared at the screen this morning, allowing possible openings to tumble over each other in my mind. Did I start on Earth? Did I start in Eternity? Did I start on the distant planet?
Did I just start? Just jump in and go? That's the way I used to do it, but these days, I seem much more inclined to come up with a first line that moves me first.
Maybe that's another reason I didn't start yesterday.
But, it came to me this morning and even though it might change later, I'm happy with it now. It kinda sets the stage for what Lilli has to go through in this novel so it's there for me, right up front, like a mantra.
Maybe that's what an opening sentence is for me, in addition to a hook to drag my reader into the story. A mantra of what my story is going to be. So I start with that feel for it and hold that feel throughout the story.
What's an opening sentence to you folks? Just a hook for the reader?
What's your favorite opening sentence that you've ever written?
I wanted to do it last night, but I was EXHAUSTED (probably from going back to work which is a complete physical, mental, and amotional drain even on the best of days) and just couldn't get myself going.
I'm clear on the basic plot and the basic threads that make this novel up, but don't have all the details yet. Have some pretty cool scenes, I think, lots of angst, good set-up for tension coming from several directions.
I set up my manuscript format and sat and stared and stared at the screen this morning, allowing possible openings to tumble over each other in my mind. Did I start on Earth? Did I start in Eternity? Did I start on the distant planet?
Did I just start? Just jump in and go? That's the way I used to do it, but these days, I seem much more inclined to come up with a first line that moves me first.
Maybe that's another reason I didn't start yesterday.
But, it came to me this morning and even though it might change later, I'm happy with it now. It kinda sets the stage for what Lilli has to go through in this novel so it's there for me, right up front, like a mantra.
Maybe that's what an opening sentence is for me, in addition to a hook to drag my reader into the story. A mantra of what my story is going to be. So I start with that feel for it and hold that feel throughout the story.
What's an opening sentence to you folks? Just a hook for the reader?
What's your favorite opening sentence that you've ever written?
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