Before I announce the winner, I’d like to first just take another moment to appreciate the amazing entries — the voting was very close and there were plenty of write-ins, which just goes to show how difficult (and subjective) it is to pull a favorite from so many great entries.
But we do have a winner. And yes, the first line is stupendously ultimate.
The Winner of the First Annual (and Probably Last For a While Until I Have Taken a Vacation or At Least Have a Week Where I Don’t Stare At a Computer Screen for 16 Hours a Day) Stupendously Ultimate First Line Challenge is……
Stall… stall…. stall….
Wait for it…
Wait for it some more…
“That summer, the arsonist struck every home on the block but ours.” — jeanne
Congratulations, jeanne! You have won yourself a partial manuscript critique. If you need one. I really want to find out why the arsonist spared that house.
Also, I think we have ourselves a little arsonist zeitgeist in the book industry right now — not only was jeanne’s first line the most voted-on entry, but the very critically acclaimed book AN ARSONIST’S GUIDE TO WRITERS’ HOMES IN NEW ENGLAND just came out this month. Coincidence? Well, the fire department sure hopes it is.
We’ll be back with regular programming tomorrow. Thanks again for participating!
Congratulations Jeanne,
That was a wonderful great line. I did get something write by voting for you.
Thanks Nathan for so much fun and excitement in the world of Nathan addicted writers.
Now do answer how important is the first line. I think Scott said that a lot of great novels start with lines that are dull.
Congratulations Jeanne! And many thanks to Nathan (and Anne) for such a great contest.
Seconding what others have already said… how important is that first line? I mean, I love a good first line and would obviously rather have a good first line in my own WIP than a bad one. But looking over my favourite books, I find almost none of them have first lines that I even remember, let alone something that grabs you straight away.
Or is it simply a case of Miss Snark’s old adage “Good writing trumps all”?
a paperback writer–
It’s not a synopsis, but I’ve posted a few paragraphs of VANISHED, a YA wip, on my blog.
–Charlene/”Footprints”
Girl, you’re on fire. Congrats!
Well done, Jeanne! And thanks again, Nathan.
Yay Jeanne. Next best thing to being on the top ten list is voting for the one that won!
(Thanks for the write-in vote Bernita.)
Nathan, thanks for the contest! (Now, do a best first paragraph contest …yeah… just kidding.) After the contest ended (sigh) I came up with a rewrite of my first line in my current ms in progress that I really like, and I do think it matters!
On a different note, I’m new to this site and have been reading old posts to see if you have answered my questions already (random ones like font) and yes, you’re batting 100, including the best font answer I’ve seen. Which is: Times New Roman, double space = one ms page is equivalent to one published page. (my paraphrasing of Nathan’s post, for those of you who wonder and haven’t found this info.)
Thanks again!
Congratulations jeanne!
And thanks Nathan and Anne. It was helpful to read people’s comments and to think about why one line seemed more compelling than another.
To steal from Paris…
“That’s hot.”
Margaret, you took me back.
When I was a little girl I heard there was a place in our area named “Baghdad.” And for a time I was sure there were genies and jinn and open sesames just a few miles beyond the reach of my little feet.
Great first line, Jeanne! And I’m even more intrigued now that I know it’s a mystery … and that we don’t know why the house is spared until the mystery is solved. Sounds amazing!
Re: the importance of first lines, I have an ongoing feature on my blog where I rate the first lines of kids books, and I’ve noticed a couple of things: (a) older books tend to have less interesting first lines than today’s books ( I think all those writing/publishing classes that tell today’s writers they need compelling first lines are to thank for that) and (b) the more well established the author, the more likely the first line won’t be especially interesting (guess you don’t have to worry so much about grabbing an editor once you’ve made a name for yourself).
Congratulations, Jeanne!