First Lines Meme
Apr. 25th, 2014 12:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jedibuttercupWhile I'm waiting for more "plotting practice" prompts (see previous post), another ficmeme. (Why, yes, I have been idly drifting back through my meta and fic bunny tags, why do you ask?)
First Lines! Previously meme'd in 2008 and 2012:
Post the first line from your 25 most recent fanfics and try to find a pattern.
Okay, then; with 1 being the oldest of the group and 25 the most recent...
1. Johns thought of his son every time he rigged for cryo: of the Hunter Gratzner, thrown off course while its passengers and crew slept on, unaware.
2. One thing about picking up a partner who can speak for herself, after all that time charting my own course: she sometimes has her own ideas that don't line up with mine, and she don't take 'because I said so' as an answer.
3. They lock the lock and throw the key into the Seine, and Alma's smiling: as if Dylan hasn't just revealed a career-ending secret to a junior Interpol agent who could use it to make hers.
4. Dahl could still feel eyes on her back.
5. After leaving the no-name world that hosted Co-op Station P7 behind him, Boss Johns hadn't expected to ever see Riddick again.
6. It was as he had predicted; the rebel Jaffa had sent a raiding party to follow up on their pathetic attempt to engender a mutiny among his loyal soldiers.
7. In the window of time between their second and third meetings, Neal Caffrey carefully avoided doing any obvious research into the deliciously mysterious Buffy Summers.
8. There aren't as many of us now as there were when Milady was Queen of Naboo, but our job remains much the same as it has since she first took public office: we handmaidens guard her body, aid her in her work, and keep her secrets for her.
9. Brian stared out at the destruction marring what must have been a gorgeous stretch of natural forest, fingers tightening on Bestia's door handle.
10. It had been such a beautifully clever plan.
11. "So, that's life in my world, the last few years," Elizabeth's guest said, lounging back in her chair in the Burke dining room.
12. Lionel huddled behind the half-open door of the Sleepy Hollow police car, hand sweating on the grip of his sidearm, listening to the retreating sound of hoofbeats and wondering exactly what he'd done to end up on the shit end of the karma stick yet again.
13. It was a novel experience for her, attending an auction with no particular aim in mind.
14. "Captain, if I may ask a rather impertinent question...."
15. Daryl hadn't been very impressed with her, at first.
16. Abbie stood on the screened-in porch of Sheriff Corbin's cabin, hands tucked in the pockets of her leather jacket, and stared out at the snow.
17. Abbie had been expecting trouble the first time she took Ichabod to the local Buy Plus.
18. In a kinder world, one man's love might have been enough to wake the destined princess from her sleeping curse.
19. There hadn't been time during the mess with the Lesser Key of Solomon, or during her day pass to track down the Sin Eater, but now that she was out of the psych ward for good there was a call Jenny Mills needed to make.
20. One moment the bridge of the ha'tak was clear, and the next, a human form sprawled at the base of the stairs leading up to Ba'al's throne.
21. Vala knew the woman in the flattering black dress and aptly named stiletto heels for what she was the instant she spotted her across the crowded room.
22. John Reese watched from a convenient vantage point as the newest Number emerged from a narrow storefront across the street.
23. There isn't much time between the moment Shaw walks out with that billion dollar chip-- fucking Riley strutting at his side-- and Toretto's team kitting up to go after him.
24. They'd been on the road for nearly two hours when the hair abruptly stood up on the back of Jonathan's neck.
25. "Okay. Now I know what you are-- and you know what I am," Detective Nick Burkhardt growled, slamming the door of the PPD interrogation room behind them.
Of the 25 lines of fic:
I went through a stretch early on in my fanwriting where I liked to introduce characters already speaking, but it's been over for awhile now. Ten stories started with dialogue in the 2008 meme entry ... but only four in 2012, and only three now. I've acquired a habit in recent years, it seems, of setting the scene a little first. Though not through narration ...
My descriptive bits tend to use a lot of tactile and visual references, with the occasional sound-word. I guess that's an in medias res thing, and I've always had a marked preference for that, haven't I? Time references, sense of urgency, motion, an idea of who's doing what, clear emotional cues: I like to immerse the reader from the start, if I can.
I also seem to use first person POV and present tense more for effect than as a preference, judging by these memes. Harry Dresden and Riddick almost always speak to me in first person, but it's really rare for me to use that POV otherwise unless specifically prompted for it or if I have a stronger than usual visceral reaction to an episode or movie-- I don't typically visualize myself reacting in the character's shoes, I guess. As for present tense: I used it a lot in my episode tag phase for immersion purposes (see 2012), but it's difficult to keep consistent. Normally when a story comes to me in present tense I write several paragraphs, then try rewriting it in past to see which one really does work better, because past tense is linguistically 'invisible' in a way that present isn't. If it really doesn't flow best in present tense, it's one more potential speed bump to throw a reader out.
And then there's my thing for complex sentences. :) Never going to grow out of that one, I'm afraid.
What do you think? Anything that sticks out to you that I'm overlooking?
First Lines! Previously meme'd in 2008 and 2012:
Post the first line from your 25 most recent fanfics and try to find a pattern.
Okay, then; with 1 being the oldest of the group and 25 the most recent...
1. Johns thought of his son every time he rigged for cryo: of the Hunter Gratzner, thrown off course while its passengers and crew slept on, unaware.
2. One thing about picking up a partner who can speak for herself, after all that time charting my own course: she sometimes has her own ideas that don't line up with mine, and she don't take 'because I said so' as an answer.
3. They lock the lock and throw the key into the Seine, and Alma's smiling: as if Dylan hasn't just revealed a career-ending secret to a junior Interpol agent who could use it to make hers.
4. Dahl could still feel eyes on her back.
5. After leaving the no-name world that hosted Co-op Station P7 behind him, Boss Johns hadn't expected to ever see Riddick again.
6. It was as he had predicted; the rebel Jaffa had sent a raiding party to follow up on their pathetic attempt to engender a mutiny among his loyal soldiers.
7. In the window of time between their second and third meetings, Neal Caffrey carefully avoided doing any obvious research into the deliciously mysterious Buffy Summers.
8. There aren't as many of us now as there were when Milady was Queen of Naboo, but our job remains much the same as it has since she first took public office: we handmaidens guard her body, aid her in her work, and keep her secrets for her.
9. Brian stared out at the destruction marring what must have been a gorgeous stretch of natural forest, fingers tightening on Bestia's door handle.
10. It had been such a beautifully clever plan.
11. "So, that's life in my world, the last few years," Elizabeth's guest said, lounging back in her chair in the Burke dining room.
12. Lionel huddled behind the half-open door of the Sleepy Hollow police car, hand sweating on the grip of his sidearm, listening to the retreating sound of hoofbeats and wondering exactly what he'd done to end up on the shit end of the karma stick yet again.
13. It was a novel experience for her, attending an auction with no particular aim in mind.
14. "Captain, if I may ask a rather impertinent question...."
15. Daryl hadn't been very impressed with her, at first.
16. Abbie stood on the screened-in porch of Sheriff Corbin's cabin, hands tucked in the pockets of her leather jacket, and stared out at the snow.
17. Abbie had been expecting trouble the first time she took Ichabod to the local Buy Plus.
18. In a kinder world, one man's love might have been enough to wake the destined princess from her sleeping curse.
19. There hadn't been time during the mess with the Lesser Key of Solomon, or during her day pass to track down the Sin Eater, but now that she was out of the psych ward for good there was a call Jenny Mills needed to make.
20. One moment the bridge of the ha'tak was clear, and the next, a human form sprawled at the base of the stairs leading up to Ba'al's throne.
21. Vala knew the woman in the flattering black dress and aptly named stiletto heels for what she was the instant she spotted her across the crowded room.
22. John Reese watched from a convenient vantage point as the newest Number emerged from a narrow storefront across the street.
23. There isn't much time between the moment Shaw walks out with that billion dollar chip-- fucking Riley strutting at his side-- and Toretto's team kitting up to go after him.
24. They'd been on the road for nearly two hours when the hair abruptly stood up on the back of Jonathan's neck.
25. "Okay. Now I know what you are-- and you know what I am," Detective Nick Burkhardt growled, slamming the door of the PPD interrogation room behind them.
Of the 25 lines of fic:
- Include dialogue: 3
- Present vs Past Tense: 4 vs 20 vs one indeterminate (dialogue only)
- Include at least one comma, semicolon, or parenthetical: 19
- Include name of POV character: 15
- First Person POV: 2
I went through a stretch early on in my fanwriting where I liked to introduce characters already speaking, but it's been over for awhile now. Ten stories started with dialogue in the 2008 meme entry ... but only four in 2012, and only three now. I've acquired a habit in recent years, it seems, of setting the scene a little first. Though not through narration ...
My descriptive bits tend to use a lot of tactile and visual references, with the occasional sound-word. I guess that's an in medias res thing, and I've always had a marked preference for that, haven't I? Time references, sense of urgency, motion, an idea of who's doing what, clear emotional cues: I like to immerse the reader from the start, if I can.
I also seem to use first person POV and present tense more for effect than as a preference, judging by these memes. Harry Dresden and Riddick almost always speak to me in first person, but it's really rare for me to use that POV otherwise unless specifically prompted for it or if I have a stronger than usual visceral reaction to an episode or movie-- I don't typically visualize myself reacting in the character's shoes, I guess. As for present tense: I used it a lot in my episode tag phase for immersion purposes (see 2012), but it's difficult to keep consistent. Normally when a story comes to me in present tense I write several paragraphs, then try rewriting it in past to see which one really does work better, because past tense is linguistically 'invisible' in a way that present isn't. If it really doesn't flow best in present tense, it's one more potential speed bump to throw a reader out.
And then there's my thing for complex sentences. :) Never going to grow out of that one, I'm afraid.
What do you think? Anything that sticks out to you that I'm overlooking?
