You have been waiting for years and years for this. Ok, two and a half days. And now it has arrived.
As stated in Friday’s post, the Stupendously Ultimate First Line Challenge’s rules will be ill-defined and the winners subjectively chosen, so let’s all just take a deep breath and agree that we will not get angry at the stupendously ultimate contest organizational committee (which has one member) and will enjoy this contest for the good hearty fun that it is — in fact, I’ve just been assured by the surgeon general that participation in this contest counts as three servings of vegetables.
The rules — er, on second thought let’s call them guidelines:
1) All may participate, whether agented or unagented, published or unpublished, living or unliving.
2) Leave in the comments section one (1) first line to a novel, memoir, work of nonfiction or other such matter intended to be the opening of a book — it may be your work in progress or something you have crafted for the purposes of the Stupendously Ultimate First Line Challenge. A second line may be included if it completes the first line, however aforementioned second line’s necessity will be judged with great scrutiny since this is a first line contest (and a stupendously ultimate one at that).
3) Entries may be made between now and sometime late Wednesday night Pacific time. In Thursday’s post I will put together a list of nominees for the grand prize and you the readers will have an opportunity to vote on the ultimate winner, which will be announced on Monday. (That is, if I can figure out how to enable voting.)
That’s it! New rules will be introduced haphazardly, so keep an eye on the comments section.
And now the prizes. The prizes!! The grand prize winner will receive the satisfaction of a job well done, the esteem of his/her fellow blog readers, and…… a partial manuscript critique from the stupendously ultimate contest organizational committee of one! (Or some other equally stupendously ultimate non-cash prize if the winner doesn’t need a manuscript critique.)
It was a dark and stormy night. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… Who will add their first line to the ranks of the greatest opening lines in literature? Let’s find out.
WitLiz Today says
“Holy shit, give this man an Oscar already!”
Taken from “The NathanBransford Files”
Anonymous says
Time ran backwards as the vampire’s fangs cut through the carotid artery of the evil mutant albino. A sliver of red ran up the chin of the pasty face as the creature of white transformed into a demon of the night. The mutant looked up triumphantly at the diminishing stars, and with a horrific screech shouted “It is done!”.
AWP
Reid says
Now we’re both happy, except me.
Anonymous says
William Campbell looked into the blank, round eye of the squirming fish and retched, gagging on the mixture of thick bile and disgust that rose into his throat.
–from a novel, ages 12 and up.
Josephine Damian says
Some good ones coming in here as the contest winds down.
Bloggers first lines vs. myspacers first lines? Bloggers rock!
LitWitch says
I had two bodies growing up: one was light and soft and melodramatic, the other was hot and juicy and delicious. They were called Love and Sex, and both were named Jean.
– (fiction, of course!)
Mamalujo says
It wasn’t what I expected, although I had not given the being-dead part much thought anyway.
M. Alexander Austin says
Dredging other first lines from stuff I’m working on:
First line of book 1 of a fantasy series:
“The nights are endless in this constant war.”
First line of book 2 of the same series:
“I stand on the pinnacle of a world unmade.”
First line of a sci-fi short story:
“He was the first out the door, boots touching dirt in the midst of a pristine park full of marble fountains.”
And from (yet another) fantasy novel I started:
“The sky was black with flies, their buzz like the sound of hell pouring into reality through the ten-thousand rifts torn in the bodies that littered the field.”
Amazing how many of the things I’ve written have a boring first line that only 5 out of about 25 have one even remotely worth posting.
yowza says
Not an entry: I said it once and I’ll say it again: Lots of puking going on, people!
cweed says
Timmy couldn’t feel the grasshopper; only one very sharp tooth.
Yvonne Rowan says
I was twenty-six when I died.
OR
I was not afraid to die, having already done it once.
(First lines from two different versions of my memoir “Dying to Live”)
icetent1 says
Agnes Orthelia Hornbach stood with her hand on the serpent-shaped door handle as if she were about to enter another world. In a sense, she was.
super soaker says
@Yowza:
I agree. Just puking and dead people. And it’s just a matter of time before someone combines the two.
Matt says
They came from the east, devastating the crops and leaving tiaras and cloak-pins in their wake.
Pat O'Brien (Iacuzzi) says
“I’ve inherited a man?”
The first line of my historical romance wip– “The Bondage Keeper”– Pat O’Brien
Sue Frye says
nwdowDina opened her eyes just in time to see something leap from her bed and swoosh out her window.
From a fantasy WIP – “TWO KIDS, TWO FAIRIES AND A TROLL”
Jamie Ford says
In the hot, windless summer of 1976, Vietnam was over, disco was taking its first awkward baby-steps and trying to do the hustle. And I, amid the shirtless hippies celebrating the bicentennial, gave my dad his walking papers.
jonathan swift says
boommm.
The shock wave rocks the night sky, buffeting the slate Wall that encircles Browbeat village like a black ring as I plunge arrow-straight into the frozen fens beyond it, 9.43 minutes ahead of Boola’s unhinged mind, which falls here from Home Office too, by accident.
–from a just completed satirical novel
Heidi the Hick says
Entry #2
He had to get to the liquor store and get stocked up, what with the End of The World and all.
(Sorry…I couldn’t resist after reading Good Girl Lit…)
Sue says
Dylan pinched himself; he wanted to run but this time, he was playing for keeps!
From a YA fantasy WIP – “ONCE IN A BLUE MOON”
The Bag of Health and Politics says
The doctor is dressed in a white coat. An empty paper cup that once contained coffee is sitting on a desk that is covered with papers.
Marie-Henri Beyle says
The small town of Verrieres may be regarded as one of the most attractive in the Franche-Comte.
Work-In-Progress
Rachel says
Sometimes I lie perfectly still and pretend I am dead.
–From YA WIP
Gabriele C. says
Ok, since everyone and his uncle posts entire paragraphs, here’s one of mine as well.
Swords clashed with a vibrating bang. Ciaran jerked awake. A fight in the peristyle yard? In near darkness, he jumped out of the bed, belted his tunica and groped for the sword on the chest beside the bedstead. The tiled floor felt cold under his bare feet but Ciaran did not waste time to lace the sandals. He snatched a shield from the wall and opened the door to the inner yard of the villa, scanning the scene illuminated by some hanging lamps.
THE CHARIOTEER, historical fiction
G R Grove says
Blood and fire, gold and steel and poetry, a river’s voice in the silence of the night, and the shining strings of a harp – all these and more I have known in my time.
from my novel “Storyteller”
JenLT says
Entry #1
Wings outstretched and pumping with a graceful efficiency, he soared above the trees savoring the small taste of freedom. A tremor of delight coursed through him as the unnatural quiet below deepened into deadly silence.
Entry #2
His heart slamming into his throat, Alexander Stiles swore viciously as the Dodge Neon suddenly veered into his lane without even a blinker to warn him, and their bumpers puckered up to kiss.
skottk says
After I ate Ed and took over as VP of Sales, Charlie installed a shark cage in his office for our weekly one-on-one’s.
keanu says
“Whoa.”
From the memoir: You Don’t Need Talent To Act Like Me
Kylie says
I’ve always wanted to use this opening line, but I’ve never found the chance to.
“Everything I write here will be either a truth or a lie: it’s impossible for someone like me to write this all down without any…exaggerations, but I swear I’ll try my best to be honest.
For the most part.”
Jengt says
“The very worst thing about being dead was the inability to indulge in life’s sweetest things.”
From completed paranormal YA, Possession
David C. Warren says
Daemyn Herald’s nightmare stalked him in slumber, just as it did his waking life.
From my book fiction fantasy book. “The Seer’s Legacy”
Anonymous says
Can I state that for the two entries that used “Carol” and “Jean” as main character names…
… these are REALLY old-fashioned names and you might do well to change them to something more contemporary.
I know this because my name is “Carol Jean.”
JJS says
Jackie’s day began as it did for all of us, with an orderly and a hypodermic.
untitled WIP
SusieMay says
oh, oh I love first line contests!This is from my chick lit wip:
It’s on account of the jellyfish that I ended up in Siberia.
Susan says
The summer before I turned sixteen, an exceptionally strong gust of wind rose up from the barren deserts of California and tumbled my smiling-on-the-outside, screwed-up-on-the-inside family (I use the word lightly) clear to Podunk, USA.
from YA manuscript WINDCHIMES
Vanessa says
She entered the party looking more prisoner than guest of honor.
brita says
Something’s broken.
Anonymous says
Carol Jean,
Maybe the characters are old? Or old-fashioned?
:o)
blog reader #9 says
My mother says I am unique, a bright light, but won’t ever explain why, and though I want to believe her… kids at school say different… and I think I am more of a small light – but a small light in a dark room.
Anonymous says
Re super soaker’s : “…puking and dead people…it’s just a matter of time before someone combines the two.”
LOL That’s a first line worthy of a book.
Anonymous says
“The most important thing I learned from the society was how to betray the people who loved and trusted me.”
— from a novel
Harry
CarolineU says
‘I’d say that’s a bloody no-no Mrs.V’
writtenwyrdd says
Anon 3:30 said
Re super soaker’s : “…puking and dead people…it’s just a matter of time before someone combines the two.”
Funny, in my trunk novel I did just that.
Moomoo says
Darling, at some point in every girl’s life Mother Nature will need at least a little assistance from Father Botox
Anonymous says
“STOP THE MAAAAD-NEEEESS!!”
From: The Last Contest: My Descent into the Bowels of the Worst Wednesday Night of My Life
by N. Bransford
Satin Puzzle says
She had not been pretty. Frizzy, carroty hair had surrounded ordinary features and unbecoming freckles, but at least she’d had a face.
Aneeka says
My first thought as I attended my own funeral: “Dude, this could have been cooler.”
From my Vampire YA WIP.
Satin Puzzle says
Leslie didn’t want to leave her dream; the nightmares came while she was awake.
Anonymous says
The day Joe Fane got out of prison, the warden gave him forty dollars gate money, a handshake, and a bus ticket back to Houston; Joe already knew he’d be jumping parole.
From Texas Tango, a crime novel.
Sassy Sistah says
Watching the company CEO scramble out of the toilet, pants down around his knees, is not a sight I want to see again in this life time.