tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post7456976045603225272..comments2023-12-26T23:07:08.005-08:00Comments on TOMORROWVILLE: Great Second Lines, Part IDavid Isaakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-78147488051496187962008-03-16T10:30:00.000-07:002008-03-16T10:30:00.000-07:00Hi, Tim--Yeah, good point. Orwell manages to chop ...Hi, Tim--<BR/><BR/>Yeah, good point. Orwell manages to chop a lot of wood and haul a lot of water with that line.<BR/><BR/>There needs to be a special category for opening lines that make one say, "Hunh?" They push you further down to page to sort out what the opening might mean.David Isaakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-49082907854582846572008-03-16T00:59:00.000-07:002008-03-16T00:59:00.000-07:00The point about epigram status is bang-on. There ...The point about epigram status is bang-on. There are plenty of ways to start a novel, and most of them don't involve gasping at the author's brilliance on line 1.<BR/><BR/>That said, sometimes the first line sets the tone with an economy which explains why the whole "first line industry" exists:<BR/><BR/>"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."Tim Strettonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08598897603628943741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-69948694304193221662008-03-15T19:37:00.000-07:002008-03-15T19:37:00.000-07:00Hi, Jen--Explain the utterly incomprehensible sequ...Hi, Jen--<BR/><BR/>Explain the utterly incomprehensible sequence, or the millions of books sold?<BR/><BR/>I think one of the things that appealed to a lot of people about Jordan was that he re-explained things, and then re-re-explained them, and then...well, you get the idea. In each book he'd recapitulate "our story so far" at immense length. If he hadn't done that, it would have only been a trilogy.<BR/><BR/>I'm not a big admirer of Mr Jordan, though I read the first few volumes. (I kept hoping it would coalesce.) But I do have to give him credit for his character as a writer--when he found out he was dying, his main concern was to finish the series, or at least leave behind the material needed for someone else to complete it. That shows some class. <BR/><BR/>Me, I'd be down at a bar by the beach, not scribbling notes.David Isaakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-70639895375487615222008-03-15T15:13:00.000-07:002008-03-15T15:13:00.000-07:00Hi David, I really, really like your writers works...Hi David, <BR/>I really, really like your writers workshop example. I've been to workshops where similar things happened, some goofy, some just sad. All the advice about how to draw in your audience apparently got discarded by the late Robert Jordan, who opened "The Eye of the World" with an utterly incomprehensible sequence followed by 150 pages in which not much happened. Guy sold millions of books. Somebody please explain that to me.Jen Sterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10961079238063675246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-86201192415911076682008-03-15T12:19:00.000-07:002008-03-15T12:19:00.000-07:00Hi, Alis--I'm in complete agreement. In fact, I ge...Hi, Alis--<BR/><BR/>I'm in complete agreement. In fact, I get mildly irritated if I hit a first line that appears to be striving for epigram status.<BR/><BR/>What I like best it when I'm in the middle of the page without realizing it.David Isaakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-86184272041450809712008-03-15T12:16:00.000-07:002008-03-15T12:16:00.000-07:00Hi, Usman--Yeah. If I'm browsing, I usually glance...Hi, Usman--<BR/><BR/>Yeah. If I'm browsing, I usually glance at a passage in the middle, and then read the first page.<BR/><BR/>It's an odd process, glancing through a book and deciding whether or not you want to read it. And I suspect it's pretty fickle--what attracts me on one day might not on another.David Isaakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-44523263278692464482008-03-15T08:42:00.000-07:002008-03-15T08:42:00.000-07:00For me, the first line is not the issue. I tend to...For me, the first line is not the issue. I tend to judge whether I'm going to carry on reading a book based on the whole of the first page - if I'm already turning over wanting to know what happens next, we're in. Arresting first lines can actually get in the way of that process if they don't lead seamlessly into what comes next.Alishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18406189984167289987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-44313867003169480712008-03-15T06:09:00.000-07:002008-03-15T06:09:00.000-07:00David Hi,I'm with you on Call me Ishmael. I have n...David Hi,<BR/>I'm with you on Call me Ishmael. I have never thought of it as a brilliant line.<BR/>As a matter of fact, I have something against 'Great First Lines.' <BR/>We buy a novel to read a book, not a first great line. I normally scan through parts of a novel, reading paragraphs, before I buy or not. <BR/>At other times I just buy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com