First Lines…Ish.

Claire B. 12 Comments

Howdy!

I’m stealing the idea for this post from Jenelle Schmidt because it’s an awesome idea and her first lines were great. First lines are terrifying and exhilarating to write at the same time. There’s all the pressure to make sure to hook your reader and trying to set the right tone from the get-go. Today I’m sharing some opening lines from some of my many projects. Fortunately for me, these are all in various stages of drafts, so I have plenty of room to improve those pesky openers. 🙂

Fans of the Aredor series might be interested in the first few of these. 🙂

Martin threw his sword on the bed and after it his lieutenant’s belt. He’d worn the belt for almost a year now and he hated it.

This is from a backstory on Martin from the Aredor series. It starts with teenage Martin and ends with essentially his introduction in the book. He basically got his own novella, but I know a few people who wouldn’t mind that. 🙂

William woke to the sounds of shouting. He rolled over with a sigh. The day was three hours old and Aiden was already in trouble.

Backstory on Will starting the morning after Aiden runs away from Clan Canich. Teenage Rona also makes an appearance.

Emeth wiped sweat from his face. He hadn’t gotten used to the constant heat of Calorin yet, even if it had been two and a half years.

More backstory! This one is a scene from The Rise of Aredor from a different POV.

Now on to non Aredor related things!

Caterin nestled in the crook of the great oak tree that crowded the corner of the garden and dangled her bare feet, still sore from last night’s ball. The book in her lap lay forgotten as she drifted back to the entrance of the mystery woman who had danced with the prince all night.

A Cinderella inspired tale with the spin that the glass slipper fit a second girl.

“Any word?” Agent Coman Parker entered the radio room.

“Not yet,” Agent Sheridan replied. “He’s fifteen hours late.”

“I know.” Coman ran a hand over his face. He knew his brother could look after himself. He was the best pilot in the military, and had a nearly perfect mission success rate. It was just that he was never this late returning from a mission. This mission wasn’t even Coman’s responsibility, but he couldn’t help be concerned when Eoman was involved. That was what brothers were for, right?

Want to know something ridiculous? This is backstory for a story I haven’t even written yet. #characterdevelopment, right? It’s about a guy with a golden arm, pirates in airships, agents, and wizards.

David leaned back against the lone tree with a sigh. As of yesterday, he was a free man. School had finally finished for the year and he could look forward to summer.

Current opening lines of Worldjumpers.

Also, none of these really have names yet. I struggle with titles.

Any of the snippets catch your eye?

What’s your favorite opening line in a book?

12 thoughts on “First Lines…Ish.”

  1. These are great! Thanks for sharing them!

    I really like the Cinderella one… and am extremely intrigued by the one with airship pirates, agents, wizards, and a character with a golden arm!!!

    My favorite opening line… I really enjoy “It was a dark and stormy night…” from Madeleine L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle in Time” – just because it’s awesome.

    “OFF THERE to the right–somewhere–is a large island,” said Whitney. “It’s rather a mystery–” from “The Most Dangerous Game” is also a good one.

    And of course, there’s … “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit…” which just has a very dear place in my heart.

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    • Thanks! I need to work on the Cinderella one more. It’s just time that’s the current issue. 🙂 I’m really excited about the airship/wizard/agent/golden arm one. 🙂

      The opening line of The Hobbit just makes me happy and comfortable if that makes sense. 🙂

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  3. This is cool! My favorite is:

    William woke to the sounds of shouting. He rolled over with a sigh. The day was three hours old and Aiden was already in trouble.

    I might have to do a post like this on my blog. 😀

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  5. “a guy with a golden arm, pirates in airships, agents, and wizards.” WUT. SIGN ME UP.

    Love the Cinderella idea too–have you read Broken Glass by Emma Clifton? It’s got an excellent twist on the shoes going to the wrong girl — in a different way than yours — and it’s my favorite Cinderella retelling of ever. XD (It’s in the Five Glass Slippers collection.) I always LOVE retellings so I’m so curious about yours! 😀

    I LOVE ALL OF THESE LINES. THEY ARE EXCELLENT. ❤

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    • 😀 Thanks!

      I’m so excited to start that one, especially now that everyone is commenting about it. 😉

      No, I haven’t gotten a chance to read the 5 Glass Slippers yet. I really want to! That story sounds very intriguing.

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