Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “First lines”
A first line of a story is the baited hook an author hopes will catch a reader’s interest so they will want to read the second line and on and on until the last line on the last page. Some readers will check out that first line before they decide if the book is one they want to read. I’ve …
A novel needs a good first line. It needs every line to be good but that first line in your story needs to grab a reader’s interest. Those few words need to be a flashing pointer toward the rest of the story. A good first line can also help a writer dive into the story. Most writers, including me, work …
Writers write stories they want readers to read. This is certainly true for this writer. I sometimes say that a book takes two to truly come to life. The writer who spills the story out onto the pages and the reader who then invites those words into his or her imagination to experience that story. That’s not to say …
Always fun to actually hold the first copy of a new book in my hand. Of course, I’ve already read it umpteen times while I was writing and editing the story, so I don’t sit down and read it again when I get that first copy hot off the press. But I do imagine others seeing this new book and …
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 (New Kings James Version) I guess when you decide to write a post about the first lines of books, you can’t go completely wrong with the first line of the Bible. That line opens the door to everything that follows. God in the beginning and then wow. No …
My last Shaker book, released in 2015, is on e-book sale this week. Price is really good for the rest of today, Sunday. $1.99 or less according to where you buy your e-books. Then the price goes up to $5.99 for the rest of the month. Still a major discount, but not as good as the one right now. Sometimes …
~~The electronic age has shortened our attention spans. That and the remote control. Remember when you had to get up out of the chair and go change the television station or adjust the volume. There weren’t but three or at most four stations to change to, so most of the time whatever came on was good enough if you were …