Opening Lines
Sep. 3rd, 2008 03:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
girlyswotThat meme.
1. From: The Perils Of Opening Presents
Ron stared at the present Hermione had just placed on his lap.
2. From: Always Dragons
Audrey was studying the seating plan.
3. From a drabble for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
viverl
The Burrow had always been full of children.
4. From a drabble fortdu000
'Does it hurt?' She pressed firmly on his chest and watched for a wince.
5. From a drabble forcoonassblondie
He tilted the bottle in her direction and raised an eyebrow.
6. From a drabble forladywhizbee
He was drunk.
7. From a drabble forgirlspell
'My dear boy, I am so sorry. If I had known...'
8. From a drabble formegan29
'He's waking up.'
9. From a drabble forkinderjedi
'Vot is the point of being an International Quidditch player if all the good-looking girls are taken?' Viktor grumbled as he wandered off in search of more Firewhiskey.
10. From a drabble forbookwormsarah
Severus peered into the cauldron, wrinkling his nose at the odour.
11. From a drabble forankaret
In the end, it was easy.
12. From a drabble forlizarfau
Miranda recognised her immediately.
13. Fromtdu000's Charlie's eyes challenge
'I didn't know you wore glasses.'
14. From The Shortest Branch
A myriad of colours reflected from each iridescent scale: palest lilac, sage green, delicate peach, sky blue, all drifting and mingling with each other in a spectrum of light that no artist could hope to keep up with.
15. Frommoonette1's birthday story
'You know, it's Moonette's birthday soon.'
16. From an original story
Bee stared at the sheet of paper in front of her, willing the form to fill itself in.
17. From The Grand Tour
No one ever told you what was supposed to happen when it was all over.
18. From TDU's Big Mistake
‘What I'm looking for is an extremely intelligent man who is interesting and entertaining to talk to. I also want him to be witty and find humour in the most bizarre and mundane situations.’
19. From The Kingscote Term
Joanna Hellier never consciously intended to become a teacher.
20. From The Magic of Christmas
The snow had started falling soon after they’d abandoned the car.
21. From Gotterdammerung
The world was coming to an end.
22. From The Way Home
The wind was getting a little stronger and Laurie could feel the spray from the rising waves on his face and hands.
23. From my![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
10_themes entry
The lake at the foot of the mountain that dominated the reserve was usually deserted when Charlie went down at the end of the day to stroll along the pebbled beach and skim stones towards the setting sun.
24. From There Are Always Dragons
It was nice that Ron still wanted her to be at these things, Hermione supposed.
25. From Gondal
Alcona looked all the way down his long, beaked nose at he boy he had sent away, unaccountably returned alive.
Goodness, 25 is a lot. I'm glad I wrote all those drabbles recently or this would have taken a lot longer. I don't know if there are any patterns. I seem to have more or less weaned myself off the habit of always starting with dialogue. There are too many that begin in the pluperfect tense, I think, and not enough that start with action. #23 is just inexcusably bad and #22 not much better. #9 is stolen from JKR, word for word. Some of these are for fics written in a very particular style so, #25, for instance isn't really me but me pretending to be Antonia Forest writing Gondal.
I do prefer starting with a short(ish) sentence, and I like it when the very first sentence sets up the point of the story. From that point of view, I like #19 best, though I'm not sure it needs the 'consciously'. Hmm. Anyone else notice anything?
1. From: The Perils Of Opening Presents
Ron stared at the present Hermione had just placed on his lap.
2. From: Always Dragons
Audrey was studying the seating plan.
3. From a drabble for
viverlThe Burrow had always been full of children.
4. From a drabble for
tdu000'Does it hurt?' She pressed firmly on his chest and watched for a wince.
5. From a drabble for
coonassblondieHe tilted the bottle in her direction and raised an eyebrow.
6. From a drabble for
ladywhizbeeHe was drunk.
7. From a drabble for
girlspell'My dear boy, I am so sorry. If I had known...'
8. From a drabble for
megan29'He's waking up.'
9. From a drabble for
kinderjedi'Vot is the point of being an International Quidditch player if all the good-looking girls are taken?' Viktor grumbled as he wandered off in search of more Firewhiskey.
10. From a drabble for
bookwormsarahSeverus peered into the cauldron, wrinkling his nose at the odour.
11. From a drabble for
ankaretIn the end, it was easy.
12. From a drabble for
lizarfauMiranda recognised her immediately.
13. From
tdu000's Charlie's eyes challenge'I didn't know you wore glasses.'
14. From The Shortest Branch
A myriad of colours reflected from each iridescent scale: palest lilac, sage green, delicate peach, sky blue, all drifting and mingling with each other in a spectrum of light that no artist could hope to keep up with.
15. From
moonette1's birthday story'You know, it's Moonette's birthday soon.'
16. From an original story
Bee stared at the sheet of paper in front of her, willing the form to fill itself in.
17. From The Grand Tour
No one ever told you what was supposed to happen when it was all over.
18. From TDU's Big Mistake
‘What I'm looking for is an extremely intelligent man who is interesting and entertaining to talk to. I also want him to be witty and find humour in the most bizarre and mundane situations.’
19. From The Kingscote Term
Joanna Hellier never consciously intended to become a teacher.
20. From The Magic of Christmas
The snow had started falling soon after they’d abandoned the car.
21. From Gotterdammerung
The world was coming to an end.
22. From The Way Home
The wind was getting a little stronger and Laurie could feel the spray from the rising waves on his face and hands.
23. From my
10_themes entryThe lake at the foot of the mountain that dominated the reserve was usually deserted when Charlie went down at the end of the day to stroll along the pebbled beach and skim stones towards the setting sun.
24. From There Are Always Dragons
It was nice that Ron still wanted her to be at these things, Hermione supposed.
25. From Gondal
Alcona looked all the way down his long, beaked nose at he boy he had sent away, unaccountably returned alive.
Goodness, 25 is a lot. I'm glad I wrote all those drabbles recently or this would have taken a lot longer. I don't know if there are any patterns. I seem to have more or less weaned myself off the habit of always starting with dialogue. There are too many that begin in the pluperfect tense, I think, and not enough that start with action. #23 is just inexcusably bad and #22 not much better. #9 is stolen from JKR, word for word. Some of these are for fics written in a very particular style so, #25, for instance isn't really me but me pretending to be Antonia Forest writing Gondal.
I do prefer starting with a short(ish) sentence, and I like it when the very first sentence sets up the point of the story. From that point of view, I like #19 best, though I'm not sure it needs the 'consciously'. Hmm. Anyone else notice anything?