{"id":10268,"date":"2022-05-29T23:21:12","date_gmt":"2022-05-30T05:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/?p=10268"},"modified":"2022-05-29T23:21:16","modified_gmt":"2022-05-30T05:21:16","slug":"it-was-a-dark-and-stormy-night-openbook-blog-hop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/?p=10268","title":{"rendered":"It Was a Dark And Stormy Night #OpenBook Blog Hop"},"content":{"rendered":"

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May 30, 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The first sentence has to have a solid punch.” \u2014 Steve Berry from “Twisty Business” Let’s talk about it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

To quote Snoopy and others “It was a dark and stormy night…” (Yes, I’d love to insert a Snoopy comic strip here, but won’t because it would be copyright infringement.) The entire sentence, written by Lord Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1830, is: \u2033It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the house-tops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.\u2033<\/p>\n

Then there’s this one penned by Stu Duval of New Zealand, winner of the 2021 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, honoring the most atrocious opening lines of the year. “A lecherous sunrise flaunted itself over a flatulent sea, ripping the obsidian bodice of night asunder with its rapacious fingers of gold, thus exposing her dusky bosom to the dawn\u2019s ogling stare.”<\/p>\n

Are you still with me? You didn’t nod off reading those sentences?<\/p>\n

Compare those to this one from American Book Reviews 100 best first lines “Vaughan died yesterday in his last car-crash.” \u2014 J. G. Ballard from the book Crash.<\/em><\/p>\n

I don’t claim my first lines match either the worst or the best, but I work hard on them. Here’s the opening line for my WIP. (untitled) “The rubber-tipped cane thunked as it hit the blacktop.” At least it’s better than the opening line from my first book, Wolves’ Pawn: “The spring rain had left puddles in the dirt road but she no longer tried to avoid them.”<\/p>\n

Face it, readers need to get sucked into the story immediately. There’s no time to create a background story or a beautiful scene. They have their choice of thousands of stories to pick from, and if the first line doesn’t grab their attention, they may not move on to the second.<\/p>\n

That first sentence should include hints about the genre, although it may not be immediately clear. (The cover should do that.). A mystery should be different from romance or fantasy. There’s a rule somewhere that the story shouldn’t begin with dialogue, but there are lots of examples of that being successfully broken.<\/p>\n

It’s tough to do it right. I don’t know how many times I wrote and rewrote that first sentence for my newest book. Or how many times I may revise it again!<\/p>\n

I’ve often said the first chapter is the hardest one to write, and the ‘right’ first sentence is tougher. I wonder if the other authors on this hop agree with me? Just follow the links below to find out.<\/p>\n

As always, please stay safe until the next time.<\/p>\n

May 30, 2022<\/p>\n

“The first sentence has to have a solid punch.” \u2014Steve Berry from “Twisty Business” Let’s talk about it.<\/p>\n

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit\/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet\/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.<\/p>\n

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You are invited to the Inlinkz<\/strong> link party!<\/p>\r\nClick here to enter<\/a><\/div><\/div>\r\n