first sentences meme
Mar. 27th, 2021 11:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
queenluavia lebateleur!
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.Then tag 10 authors! Anyone who wants to run with this, should.
I did a meme very much like this in 2013, so, hey, fun excuse to try this again with newer stuff :)
as for trends and such:
i'm grouping these like so:
A) vaguely philosophical/ponderous opening statement: 2, 4, 6
B) clever, funny, and/or cool openings that do a decent job of establishing a scene/character/whatever: 7, 12, 14, 15
C) somewhere in-between the previous two categories?: 1, 9, 11, 15, 18
D) dialogue: 3
E) "I just need a way into this scene goddamnit": 5, 8, 10, 13
F) damn there's a lot of exposition happening here huh: 16, 17
category (B) is generally the strongest and what i'm aiming for, but all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god—so i don't always hit that mark!.
in particular, i think my natural tendency is to open with philosophical, ponderous, birds'-eye-view scenes with, like, some Elaborate Tedious Metaphor Which Sets The Stage For The Main Character's Mental State. and while those are fine to write in an early draft—they really DO help me decide "so what am i actually writing about"—they're boring and tedious and i should cut them most of the time! like, if i'd had more time to work on Silent World (6), I would've figured out some way to get rid of that prologue bit... but i just couldn't swing it, so, High-Level Musings On Sothe And Micaiah's Relationship stayed put, alas.
(to make it concrete: in an early draft of summer is miles and miles away (12), I had a whole fuckin' opening scene with Lorenz being sad and having conflicted Catholic feelings in a historic church or whatever. To be clear, I still am absolutely convinced the sad feelings in a Catholic church totally happened; but I am also totally convinced that no one cares, and that cutting all that so I could open with Caspar spilling beer on Lorenz at a disappointing tailgate was 100% the right move.)
it's funny how having a specific prompt, tags, etc, lets you "cheat" on having a proper opening. like, 3 would be a sort of confusing/awkward opening.... if it weren't specifically flagged "aerith & red xiii, shared history." with that context, i think it works just fine. the joys of fanfiction! how i love cheating.
as for my favorite sentences: it's a tossup between 7 and 14, probably. one is funny; one is serious; both very much reflect what i wanted the overall piece to do, which is fabulous. also, 11 makes me smile, heh.
lebateleur!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.
I did a meme very much like this in 2013, so, hey, fun excuse to try this again with newer stuff :)
1. Wright must have rubbed off on him, Edgeworth thought sourly, as he watched the final moments of Simon Blackquill's trial. (current WIP)
2. Afterwards, Larsa wondered how long Vayne had been plotting his scheme. (FF12, [x])
3. "You know," Aerith said, in a teasing, singsong voice, "you could have spoken up sooner." (FF7, [x])
4. Looking back on it now, Ignis realized that there had never been a word for what he was to Noctis. (FF15, [x])
5. The next time Al-Cid crossed paths with Princess Ashelia was on the eve of Her Majesty's coronation. (FF12, [x])
6. There are no secrets between Micaiah and Sothe. (FE9/10, [x])
7. This will be fun, Claude said, which should have been Hilda’s first hint that it would be anything but. (FE3H, [x])
8. Mahit found the note in her jacket two weeks after departing the City. (Teixcalaan, [x])
9. Claude thought he had changed the world, the day he first led his Immortal Corps across Fódlan’s Locket. (FE3H, [x])
10. Going on a trail ride had been Lorenz’s idea, and truly, he hadn’t been trying to show off. (FE3H, [x])
11. Lorenz discovered Claude’s little kink almost by accident. (FE3H, [x])
12. When Lorenz went back to his beloved alma mater for the Harvard-Yale football game, he had expected something classy. (FE3H, [x])
13. Entering the archery tournament was Claude’s idea. (FE3H, [x])
14. This is how you greet someone in Fódlan, his mother tells him, holding out her hand for a shake. (FE3H, [x])
15. Like water off a wyvern’s back—that was what people said about trying to get a rise out of Kamyar el-Samandi. (FE3H, [x])
16. When Magister Tilani stood on the senate floor and moved to nominate Dorian Pavus for a seat in the Magisterium, just one month after Corypheus's defeat at the Temple of Sacred Ashes, the ensuing debate was so heated as to nearly come to blows. (Dragon Age: Inquisition, [x])
17. Funny, how years after Kellam had died, sometimes Tess couldn't remember his face—but she always remembered his voice. (The Last of Us, [x])
18. There are different kinds of quiet, Eiko's learned these past few weeks. (FF9, [x])
as for trends and such:
i'm grouping these like so:
A) vaguely philosophical/ponderous opening statement: 2, 4, 6
B) clever, funny, and/or cool openings that do a decent job of establishing a scene/character/whatever: 7, 12, 14, 15
C) somewhere in-between the previous two categories?: 1, 9, 11, 15, 18
D) dialogue: 3
E) "I just need a way into this scene goddamnit": 5, 8, 10, 13
F) damn there's a lot of exposition happening here huh: 16, 17
category (B) is generally the strongest and what i'm aiming for, but all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god—so i don't always hit that mark!.
in particular, i think my natural tendency is to open with philosophical, ponderous, birds'-eye-view scenes with, like, some Elaborate Tedious Metaphor Which Sets The Stage For The Main Character's Mental State. and while those are fine to write in an early draft—they really DO help me decide "so what am i actually writing about"—they're boring and tedious and i should cut them most of the time! like, if i'd had more time to work on Silent World (6), I would've figured out some way to get rid of that prologue bit... but i just couldn't swing it, so, High-Level Musings On Sothe And Micaiah's Relationship stayed put, alas.
(to make it concrete: in an early draft of summer is miles and miles away (12), I had a whole fuckin' opening scene with Lorenz being sad and having conflicted Catholic feelings in a historic church or whatever. To be clear, I still am absolutely convinced the sad feelings in a Catholic church totally happened; but I am also totally convinced that no one cares, and that cutting all that so I could open with Caspar spilling beer on Lorenz at a disappointing tailgate was 100% the right move.)
it's funny how having a specific prompt, tags, etc, lets you "cheat" on having a proper opening. like, 3 would be a sort of confusing/awkward opening.... if it weren't specifically flagged "aerith & red xiii, shared history." with that context, i think it works just fine. the joys of fanfiction! how i love cheating.
as for my favorite sentences: it's a tossup between 7 and 14, probably. one is funny; one is serious; both very much reflect what i wanted the overall piece to do, which is fabulous. also, 11 makes me smile, heh.
no subject
Date: 2021-03-28 11:33 am (UTC)makes ALL THE NOISES
I want to read that one!
no subject
Date: 2021-03-28 06:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-03-28 03:08 pm (UTC)a) would agree in general with this post, it's really cool seeing the active directions that you're tugging to and how it's changed over the course of the years, and
b) this makes me smile because i love your writing no matter what, and have a particular fondness for the philosophical ones still. : P
no subject
Date: 2021-03-28 07:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-03-28 04:46 pm (UTC)All of those lines are great, but I really love this one:
Like water off a wyvern’s back—that was what people said about trying to get a rise out of Kamyar el-Samandi.
I also laughed out loud at your description of damn there's a lot of exposition happening here huh. I really like those! They both tell me a lot about the tone of the fic, especially 16.
To be clear, I still am absolutely convinced the sad feelings in a Catholic church totally happened; but I am also totally convinced that no one cares
I am very amused by this, because poor Lorenz. There he is, having conflicted feelings in a historical church, and no one cares. Cut to him getting a drink spilled on him!
no subject
Date: 2021-03-28 07:26 pm (UTC)glad you enjoyed!
no subject
Date: 2021-04-01 10:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-04-01 11:30 pm (UTC)lol, you and me both... soon!