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Icon lines that have burrowed their way into our brains and pop culture
I’m just saying that maybe they aren’t the most important things about beginning a story
Do you know what is more important than the first line of a story — whether novel or
Maybe this is observation bias here, but can you think of an iconic first line that didn’
A rhythm or quality of voice that allures the ear and catches the imagination, but they are
And, yes, I want my stories to be full of beautiful sentences, but from a writing process
Hey, and from a writing process perspective, maybe that works for some people like my professor (who
I need to take a top-down approach, look at the big picture of the story, figure out
Especially if a future draft or edit of the story will completely change that beginning anyway
One of the prime parts of the story that is worth skipping: the beginning
There is a lot of pressure on writing the beginning of the story
As pointed out above, those iconic opening lines give us creative writers a high benchmark to aim
Then, eventually, backtrack and discover the beginning of the story
Look up any list of “great first lines of literature” and you will see plenty that are
There are plenty of great stories, some of my favorite stories, which lack iconic first lines
But they have a strong and compelling opening, followed by a strong and compelling story
However, they can be a distraction to the writer and the writing process
And if you happen to come up with an amazing first line anyway, that’s a nice