We do this for each genre on another site I frequent, so I thought a sci-fi/horror/fantasy would do nicely here. Here's the rules:
1) Each post must include an entry.
2) You must be able to hook your reader and have them identify the genre from the first sentence.
3) No unnecessary run-on sentences.
4) You can use vulgarity, as long it's self-censored: @$$hole, f***, sh!t, etc.
Entry: I shouldn't have eaten the chili from that wheelworld freightliner-stop, it always gives me the anti-matter squirts, but this trip it gave me a parasite.
or
Gazing out across an invasion force of venomous monster rabbits, Chuck said, "Rabbits...why'd it have to be rabbits?"
[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited April 20, 2009).]
Posted by Kitti (Member # 7277) on :
"I do so love a challenge," Master Sciomancer Albert Higgens said, thumping a large and rather dusty folio volume down on top of his desk.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
It was difficult to change my face on the run.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
I learned, the hard way, that fresh manticore droppings will take out your entire car.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
The point is to have fun and get in a writing mood.
My entry:
Throatcleaver, my father's blade began to grow on me--actually planted cold-steel tendrils under my skin and wove its way deep into my muscles!
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
I only teleport out of necessity, because everytime I do my skin always feels like it's on fire.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
I never got used to Juan pulling his ear forward to retrieve his vid-disc reports.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
The child looked like he was just drawing pictures in the dust on my truck, until I saw the tires through a smiley face in the quarter panel.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Humans always assumed anyone not of earth must be a genius; it never occured to them that Vorg crash-landed because she was too busy gerping with the frazping map and hit a solpuffing satellite.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
I looked up in awe at the ruined Temple of Golden Arches, and knew my dream spoke true when the God of Potatoes demanded another sacrifice.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
I felt like a turd being squeezed out of the space-time continuum and decided, right then and there, that I would build a transport and ride inside the turd.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
She wanted to kiss me, but zombies have such stale breath.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
As Reiger passed through the sector field, the billboard he feared most floated in front of him: No rest stops for 4,000 par-secs.
Posted by shimiqua (Member # 7760) on :
never mind.
[This message has been edited by shimiqua (edited May 05, 2009).]
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
You mean to tell me that only three Hatrackers can come up with snazzy 1st sentences?
Entry:
I found the tunnels the first time I was was thrown into this prison, when I was twelve.
Posted by Jeff M (Member # 7828) on :
Reginald suspected his evening had taken a turn for the worse when he arrived home from work to find Vincent Van Gogh sitting on his couch, wearing a bright orange life vest and eating a falafel.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
"Come on," Winter yelled to me, "the Crimson Dragoons have a shadowthief cornered."
Posted by Natej11 (Member # 8547) on :
"That," Walks With a Limp said calmly, slipping his Claws down into a ready grip, "is a kalthan."
Posted by aspirit (Member # 7974) on :
I just noticed this thread. My first attempt at an entry grew into two pages, so I won't post it here. My second attempt:
Chata chose the wrong time to look over her shoulder at the elves giving chase; she didn't notice the half-buried sword until she tripped on it.
Posted by Devnal (Member # 6724) on :
My last thought as a living, breathing, person had been an increduluous reasoning that the cold steel of the knife against my throat felt eerily like Hans, my barber, starting his first swipe with the razor-- except this went strides beyond what could be considered "a close shave."
Posted by Kitti (Member # 7277) on :
Malificent’s favorite part of being an evil sorceress was the wardrobe.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
Binkie knew the minute he cut through his tether and started to drift from the ship, that he made a rookie EVA mistake.
Posted by Ben Trovato (Member # 7804) on :
I was ten years old before I accepted the fact that my mother was not a vampire.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
Lord Graffilio, heartbroken by the death of Jovella, jumped from the precipice before realizing it was Jovella's voice yelling at him to stop.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
Punkwhistle took the arm he had ripped out of his victim and squeezed the extra blood out... he liked his body parts slightly dry.
Posted by Nick T (Member # 8052) on :
Fun contest. I'll include an actual first line from a planned story.
Loren had waited most of his life for his first homo futuris to pass through the gate, so it was a shock when two arrived in one day.
Posted by satate (Member # 8082) on :
Kala materialized in the dubious shade of a mesquite tree and tried to calm her breathing.
Posted by satate (Member # 8082) on :
Senance laughed as her one year old jumped, fluttered her wings, and half fell, half floated onto the grass.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
I looked out of the window of the school bus and saw a castle floating in the air where my house should be.
Posted by satate (Member # 8082) on :
I used to wish I could use magic, not anymore.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
I could recognize my own body, bleeding on the wet concrete as I was being drawn up, away from the scene of the accident.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
The first time I realized I could glean information from a corpse was in 6th grade, when Rudy Price beat me beat me up and stuffed my face into a dead woodchuck.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
After hours in my father's occult library, the book he died reading open on the table before me, I found the common thread to all religions was demons.
Posted by Gaudrhin (Member # 8557) on :
For the first time, Diego noticed that everyone was starting at him, and he wondered if it was because no one else had wings.
Posted by satate (Member # 8082) on :
Once upon a time there a was a little girl who's every wish came true; that girl is not me.
Posted by Ben Trovato (Member # 7804) on :
The pyramid of skulls was more like a heap, but the thought was there.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
It was a beautiful day in the forest until the bluebird on the branch began to talk.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
I felt refreshed and energized that fateful morning until the neighbor's dog decided to lift his leg and dampen my trousers.
In response to IB's criticism below: You got me!
I felt refreshed and energized that fateful morning until the strange dog with antennae raised his leg as if to pee.
[This message has been edited by Owasm (edited April 21, 2009).]
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
quote: I felt refreshed and energized that fateful morning until the neighbor's dog decided to lift his leg and dampen my trousers.
What speculative genre is this? Where's the hook? Maybe the dog's urine burned?
My entry:
When Chupa reached the top of the mountain, he saw walls of paned glass emerging from the next mountain and knew he'd found the home of the gods.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Only enough blood will quiet the voices, and my knife is wicked sharp and squeaky-clean.
Posted by shimiqua (Member # 7760) on :
Feet first, Darren rammed his legs against the airlocke, and tried to hold in his breath. He had thirty, or so, seconds before the darkness surrounded him, and Darren well knew what would happen then.
The Volure's would come to feast. Go, he thought, pressing again at the airlock bar. The lungs ached in his chest and he could hear scratching on the holo door. They were coming. His vision felt grainy, and he expelled his breath and floated on his back to face the monsters.
There was no way was he going to survive this. Again.
Sorry, I know this is more than one line. I just wrote the first line, and then had to continue. That's all I got. ~Sheena
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
Thundering hoofs of the devil horse pounded the forest floor, stopping where my friends and I had taken refuge. Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
He chased me to the cliff's edge and pushed: stupid ogre didn't know I could fly.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
My first thought: dream, then I realized I was truly brought spelled and naked to the Wizard's Council not knowing what in hell I had done.
Posted by Unwritten (Member # 7960) on :
Weighing in at close to 400 pounds, Maria was not on the list of people you would expect to save the world.
Posted by satate (Member # 8082) on :
Lane picked the largest rock she could see and threw it at the head of the blind woman; the witch deserved it.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
Now remind me, just exactly how do I shake hands with an alien that looks like a beachball and floats five feet above my head?
Posted by Jeff M (Member # 7828) on :
After standing placidly in the Henderson's front yard for the past 200 years, the mighty oak tree decided this morning the right time had finally come.
Posted by Jeff M (Member # 7828) on :
Marcia flipped on the kitchen radio, but instead of the seven o'clock news, she heard a voice repeating "attention all planets of the solar federation -- we have assumed control."
Posted by LucyintheSky (Member # 8475) on :
I used to think magic was just for snobs.
Posted by LucyintheSky (Member # 8475) on :
If I had known that asking a simple favor was going to cause so much havoc, I never would have rubbed that damn lamp.
Posted by Dame (Member # 8513) on :
Just as English has no word for the back of the knee, Centauran lacks the basic concept of "get the hell out of my face or I'll break both your antennae."
Posted by Unwritten (Member # 7960) on :
Mike spent the first half hour of history class surreptitiously slashing his wrists, just to see how fast his new skin healed.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
The pack members welcomed me with a cordial sniff and grazing of pelts, all but the b*st*rd who bit me.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
Finally our captivity was over when our host died and thieves removed the gold tooth containing our spaceship.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Not a first line:
I have to wonder if some of you have really thought about your first lines and what they would lead to in a story.
I say this because some of them seem to be more like last lines in some ways--there's a sort of summing up in them that doesn't look like it will lead to anything further.
Posted by philocinemas (Member # 8108) on :
I had always loved mowing my lawn, riding my mower and smelling the freshly cut grass, until the day when the circle of teeth first appeared.
Posted by shimiqua (Member # 7760) on :
So a princess, an elf and a dwarf walk into a bar.
Posted by Jeff M (Member # 7828) on :
Little Rabbit Foo-Foo groaned and whacked the snooze button again, reluctant to haul his cottontail out of bed and face yet another soul-crushing day of hopping through the forest, picking up field mice and bashing them on the head.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Jean returned to camp and found her husband gone, but his flesh folded over the picnic bench.
Posted by MrsBrown (Member # 5195) on :
Jan tilted her umbrella into the wind and leaped across the rain-splattered moat, where tiny crocodiles dove out of sight.
What a good exercise!
Posted by MrsBrown (Member # 5195) on :
Squire Gilbert dodged a kick, snatched his hand away from the mare's fangs, and made another grab for her trailing reins.
Posted by MrsBrown (Member # 5195) on :
Billie peeked under his bed to see if the gnome was still gnawing on his shoe.
Nate Sanderson snapped his laptop shut and glanced under his desk again, to make sure the gnome was still trapped in the recycling bin.
[This message has been edited by MrsBrown (edited May 01, 2009).]
Posted by MrsBrown (Member # 5195) on :
Gerda hugged the lance under her arm and peered through her visor at the scrawniest troll she had ever seen.
Posted by MrsBrown (Member # 5195) on :
Nathan wondered if the silver-gray tail hanging from his shirt drawer was just another dragon, or if he had finally caught an ice lizard.
Posted by MrsBrown (Member # 5195) on :
1. Marge checked the mug to find two fairies struggling to pull their wings free of the coffee's surface tension; her trap worked.
2. Marge hung strips of double-sided tape from the porch roof, in hopes of reducing the fairy population.
3. Marge ordered a Bug Zapper to try it on the fairies.
4. Marge kept the porch light off so the fairies wouldn't gather by her door.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Axot put the final edge on the battle ax he'd shaped from scrap metal and glanced at the mutant horde beyond the corrugated gates.
Posted by MrsBrown (Member # 5195) on :
Hannah hesitated to heal the pastor, afraid that it would seem prideful and her gift would be taken away.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Ray looked at the android who'd delivered his divorce settlement, and said, "Robot or not, I'm going to kick the S#!t out of you."
Posted by MrsBrown (Member # 5195) on :
Bridget tapped her wand impatiently, waiting for the goblins to stop their bickering.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
The blinding green light vanished; Horton felt different as he looked down at the muscles now adorning his formerly emaciated body.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
When Fiskill had moved his family into the abandoned mousehole at Chocolate Chip's Bakery, he was certain he'd never have to worry about food again--until he found Skullfang the Rat had moved his gang into another hole in the store.
Posted by Fahrion Kryptov (Member # 1544) on :
As Rymann looked down on the charred remains of the friar, he tightened his belt again and resolved that today the chase would begin in earnest.
Posted by satate (Member # 8082) on :
I always knew I was adopted, but I never knew it was because of a prophecy, until today.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
Just as his final words would have sealed King Hrulka's coronation, an arrow found its way into the High Mage's throat, then another soon followed into the prospective King's as well.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
As Basil went to cut into his birthday cake, the icing opened its eyes and screamed.
Posted by ChaosPaladin (Member # 8583) on :
Satomi knew his luck was bad, but waking up with a splitting headache and being held at gun point was a little much.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
The alien-flesh wriggled on my arm like it wanted to be free of me.
[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited May 11, 2009).]
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
The morning after his foray into the Egyptian museum was fraught with terror as he looked in the mirror and found the eyes of Anubis looking back at him from a black snouted face.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
People run in fear from me every time the cyber-mites crawl from my right eye to the left.
Posted by JustinArmstrong (Member # 8607) on :
It wasn't the first time Jared had been wrong about someone's gender, but earthling's don't imprison you in your own gravitational field.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
He didn't realize she'd gone through his flesh, until he got out of the shower and saw the reflection of a blackened bite mark on his shoulder, spreading dark tendrils toward his neck.
Posted by satate (Member # 8082) on :
Silver flecked wings beat the air down as Angera soared through the air.
Posted by satate (Member # 8082) on :
Everyday Yatmeen tests her roots and shakes her leaves, hoping that it would be the day she gains her freedom.
[This message has been edited by satate (edited May 18, 2009).]
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
My cowl did not hide the severe burns the wizard's fire had caused on my face.
Posted by Ben Trovato (Member # 7804) on :
Lt. Morgan DeVries of the Terran Space Service (Diplomatic Corps), forced herself to focus on the man in front of her, not the duck-billed headdress he wore.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
My mind inverted upon itself, I was falling, falling, falling, deeper and deeper into the infinite velvet blackness only to be plunged into my doom by the words: "Do you take Armina the Strongarm as your lawfully wedded wife?"
Posted by MrsBrown (Member # 5195) on :
IB, your mind is a disturbing place. And why do your rules rule?
Entry (notice my abject obedience):
Sally struggled for years to break past her telepathic barriers, only to find her mind linked to a slobbering lunatic.
[This message has been edited by MrsBrown (edited May 20, 2009).]
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
MrsBrown, you need to edit your (astute) comment, so that you can have a first line to enter--dem's da rulez.
Entry:
Neither rotting coffin nor the feasting of wriggling maggots could stop me from clawing my way back to the world of men, back to those who'd buried me.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
Riffen peered down at the advancing detachment of guards, wondering if they would notice the bloody footprints on the steps leading up to his chambers and the tingle of magic fire that would soon help them join their compatriots in Jingo's Hell.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
quote: And why do your rules rule?
I'm just good? Oh, well. I just want to keep this thread on track.
Has anyone else found it simple to keep genre, a hook and a taste of character in the first line?
ENTRY: The prey were necking in their convertible, totally ingorant of my wings unfurling and stretching out above them.
[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited May 20, 2009).]
Posted by mythique890 (Member # 8586) on :
Ninety-three million miles is a long way to jump, especially barefoot, but I was so much better than all the other morons in my class.
Posted by MrsBrown (Member # 5195) on :
quote:Has anyone else found it simple to keep genre, a hook and a taste of character in the first line?
Have I done that? My entries were pretty easy to toss out, but some seem more effective than others, and I don't know if other people would say I've met those objectives. I find myself assuming that the speculative element is a hook, which of course is not necessarily true.
How about a contest along these lines? (Allowing entries we already tried.) I'd like to list my favorites that the rest of you have submitted
ENTRY: Gertrude landed in the crowded courtyard, snapped her wings shut, and gazed around at the astonished faces before turning back into an old woman.
[This message has been edited by MrsBrown (edited May 21, 2009).]
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Burn fell in love with the Lokarian princess the moment she stepped into the Garden of Stones.
Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :
Stones was burned up the moment Prince Lokarian stepped up to his intended and planted a garden of kisses on her face.
[This message has been edited by Owasm (edited June 01, 2009).]
Posted by MrsBrown (Member # 5195) on :
Derrick hated technical documents, but he jumped at the chance to write the requirements spec for the [insert cool scientific device here].
Posted by DWD (Member # 8649) on :
The whole damned human race was tired, Jack decided.
Posted by Natej11 (Member # 8547) on :
Aran had enough time to think, rather sullenly, that reversing a gravitational field was NOT as easy as flipping his feet down and landing on the ceiling before he blacked out.
Posted by Natej11 (Member # 8547) on :
"The information's classified," John said, sweeping under the desk for bugs, "if I told you, you'd have to kill me."
[This message has been edited by Natej11 (edited June 22, 2009).]
Posted by xardoz (Member # 4528) on :
Waking up to a foot-long wooden stake jutting from my ribcage told me that Mom was really serious about me getting a job and moving out of her basement.
Posted by xardoz (Member # 4528) on :
ENTRY:
The redcap couldn't have been more than a foot tall, but his scowl and the .45 he leveled at me across my desk told me he thought he was much bigger, and I wasn't inclined to argue.
