A Tiny Conundrum
I’ve had a first line for about a week. I think it’s a great first line. So? What am I doing writing first lines anyway? I’m the retired writer.
But what to do when a beauty of a line comes buzzing into your brain? Dodge it? Black it out? Give it to someone else? God no.
I went to Word and typed it on the blank page making it no longer blank. And that’s where it is now. One line. No company.
Is it lonely? Maybe. But I don’t seem to be able to do anything about it. I think of that line a lot. I’ll be making the bed and the line pops into my mind. It makes me smile. I wash a dish and I say it silently.
It’s no big deal to have an opening line, you say. You’re right. So why am I blathering about it? You tell me.
posted by Sandra Scoppettone at 1:22 PM
5 Comments:
Hey, like the new pic! It's so bucolic.
Do you usually start that way--with a first line? Or with a character. Or an incident. I think a good first line can set the mood for the whole piece. Your unconscious probably is adding a lot more to it. It just needs to tell the rest of your brain when it's ready. Not that you don't know the process far better than I.
I think having a great first line is a wonderful thing.
Who knows where it could lead?
Terrie
I'll pose a question. Is there really such a thing as a retired writer? I think the answer may shed light on why that first line keeps echoing in your mind.
Maybe you really are a retired writer and you're dangling that first line in front of us just to stimulate OUR imagination. :) No?
Come on, there's a second line inside your head just waiting to escape. Let go of it.
If you're thinking about this one line so much, you should go ahead and finish the story. It's waiting fot you.
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