First Line Challenge - Hatrack River Writers Workshop


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Author	Topic: First Line Challenge
LucyintheSky Member	posted April 22, 2009 12:19 PM If I had known that asking a simple favor was going to cause so much havoc, I never would have rubbed that damn lamp. IP: Logged
Dame Member	posted April 23, 2009 06:18 PM 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." IP: Logged
Unwritten Member	posted April 23, 2009 08:35 PM Mike spent the first half hour of history class surreptitiously slashing his wrists, just to see how fast his new skin healed. IP: Logged
InarticulateBabbler Member	posted April 23, 2009 09:01 PM The pack members welcomed me with a cordial sniff and grazing of pelts, all but the bstrd who bit me. IP: Logged
Owasm Member	posted April 24, 2009 10:46 PM Finally our captivity was over when our host died and thieves removed the gold tooth containing our spaceship. IP: Logged
Kathleen Dalton Woodbury Administrator	posted April 24, 2009 11:33 PM 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. IP: Logged
philocinemas Member	posted April 26, 2009 08:35 AM 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. IP: Logged
shimiqua Member	posted April 27, 2009 08:49 AM So a princess, an elf and a dwarf walk into a bar. IP: Logged
Jeff M Member	posted April 27, 2009 12:04 PM 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. IP: Logged
InarticulateBabbler Member	posted April 27, 2009 01:53 PM Jean returned to camp and found her husband gone, but his flesh folded over the picnic bench. IP: Logged
MrsBrown Member	posted May 01, 2009 11:29 PM 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! IP: Logged
MrsBrown Member	posted May 01, 2009 11:30 PM Squire Gilbert dodged a kick, snatched his hand away from the mare's fangs, and made another grab for her trailing reins. IP: Logged
MrsBrown Member	posted May 01, 2009 11:30 PM 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).] IP: Logged
MrsBrown Member	posted May 01, 2009 11:31 PM Gerda hugged the lance under her arm and peered through her visor at the scrawniest troll she had ever seen. IP: Logged
MrsBrown Member	posted May 01, 2009 11:32 PM 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. IP: Logged
MrsBrown Member	posted May 01, 2009 11:58 PM 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. IP: Logged
InarticulateBabbler Member	posted May 01, 2009 11:59 PM 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. IP: Logged
MrsBrown Member	posted May 02, 2009 12:03 AM Hannah hesitated to heal the pastor, afraid that it would seem prideful and her gift would be taken away. IP: Logged
InarticulateBabbler Member	posted May 02, 2009 12:05 AM 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." IP: Logged
MrsBrown Member	posted May 02, 2009 12:11 AM Bridget tapped her wand impatiently, waiting for the goblins to stop their bickering. IP: Logged
Owasm Member	posted May 03, 2009 09:23 AM The blinding green light vanished; Horton felt different as he looked down at the muscles now adorning his formerly emaciated body. IP: Logged
InarticulateBabbler Member	posted May 06, 2009 10:26 PM 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. IP: Logged
Fahrion Kryptov Member	posted May 07, 2009 02:00 PM 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. IP: Logged
satate Member	posted May 09, 2009 11:58 AM I always knew I was adopted, but I never knew it was because of a prophecy, until today. IP: Logged
Owasm Member	posted May 09, 2009 08:11 PM 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. IP: Logged
InarticulateBabbler Member	posted May 09, 2009 10:55 PM As Basil went to cut into his birthday cake, the icing opened its eyes and screamed. IP: Logged
ChaosPaladin Member	posted May 10, 2009 07:54 PM Satomi knew his luck was bad, but waking up with a splitting headache and being held at gun point was a little much. IP: Logged
InarticulateBabbler Member	posted May 11, 2009 01:33 PM 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).] IP: Logged
Owasm Member	posted May 11, 2009 02:43 PM 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. IP: Logged
InarticulateBabbler Member	posted May 14, 2009 11:31 PM People run in fear from me every time the cyber-mites crawl from my right eye to the left. IP: Logged
JustinArmstrong Member	posted May 16, 2009 12:27 AM 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. IP: Logged
InarticulateBabbler Member	posted May 16, 2009 09:12 AM 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. IP: Logged
satate Member	posted May 18, 2009 12:03 AM Silver flecked wings beat the air down as Angera soared through the air. IP: Logged
satate Member	posted May 18, 2009 12:08 AM 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).] IP: Logged
InarticulateBabbler Member	posted May 18, 2009 02:18 AM My cowl did not hide the severe burns the wizard's fire had caused on my face. IP: Logged
Ben Trovato Member	posted May 18, 2009 05:22 PM 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. IP: Logged
Owasm Member	posted May 18, 2009 06:59 PM 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?" IP: Logged
MrsBrown Member	posted May 19, 2009 09:54 AM 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).] IP: Logged
InarticulateBabbler Member	posted May 19, 2009 03:04 PM 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. IP: Logged
Owasm Member	posted May 19, 2009 03:41 PM 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. IP: Logged
InarticulateBabbler Member	posted May 20, 2009 02:21 PM 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).] IP: Logged
mythique890 Member	posted May 20, 2009 11:49 PM 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. IP: Logged
MrsBrown Member	posted May 21, 2009 12:20 AM 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).] IP: Logged
InarticulateBabbler Member	posted May 31, 2009 12:47 AM Burn fell in love with the Lokarian princess the moment she stepped into the Garden of Stones. IP: Logged
Owasm Member	posted May 31, 2009 10:48 AM 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).] IP: Logged
MrsBrown Member	posted June 04, 2009 12:07 PM Derrick hated technical documents, but he jumped at the chance to write the requirements spec for the [insert cool scientific device here]. IP: Logged
DWD Member	posted June 05, 2009 07:03 PM The whole damned human race was tired, Jack decided. IP: Logged
Natej11 Member	posted June 22, 2009 05:14 PM 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. IP: Logged
Natej11 Member	posted June 22, 2009 05:26 PM "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).] IP: Logged
xardoz Member	posted June 26, 2009 02:06 PM 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. IP: Logged

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