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Been a while since I did one of these. My 15 most recent opening lines:
1) "… Ellie? You okay there sweetheart? Only you’ve been starin’ at this old mug for about ten minutes now, and it’s gettin’ kinda worrying.“ (Worth A Thousand Pictures, Fallout 4)
2) Nick got philosophical in the long watches of the night. (Made to Last, Fallout 4)
3) Something sparked faintly in Nick’s mouth, static off metal teeth maybe, and Sole pulled back hastily. (Acquired Taste, Fallout 4)
4) The kid slept in Nick’s arms the whole way back. (Sheltered, Fallout 4)
5) Nora blinked her eyes open, squinting exhaustedly in the greyish light that filtered through from somewhere. (Mornings Grey and Bright, Fallout 4)
6) The shot rang out through the nest of alleys, somehow noticeable even through the rest of the firestorm. (The Lights of their Eyes, Fallout 4)
7) Sole touches him. A lot. Nick can’t help but notice that. (Doubting, Dreaming, Fallout 4)
8) Sole growled and shoved Nick into the blind corner behind him, out of most of the immediate lines of fire. (The Ragged Edge, Fallout 4)
9) When I was nineteen, my first year in college, I went to stay with my great-aunt Yvonne. (Yves, Original Work)
10) In his life, having lost so many, Jingyan had thought that he had experienced every pain there was to know. (Watershed, Nirvana in Fire)
11) "I’m telling you, Khered, if one more arrogant, pissant, bull-in-a-china-shop, tin-plated nincompoop of a knight comes storming up my bloody stairs to ‘rescue me’, I am going to flatten this kingdom.” (Manners Saveth Man, Original Work)
12) "It does not seem fair.“ (A Good Death, Babylon 5)
13) The signpost loomed out of the dark and the drizzle as the bus crested the hill, glowing bright for a second as the headlights bounced off it. (Cainsford Fourteen Miles, Original Work)
14) The harsh slam of the workroom’s oaken door sounded like thunder behind them, though Thomas had some small difficulty hearing it over the thud of his own body as the King’s magic flung him unceremoniously across the anteroom. (Gravefrost and Wormwood, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell)
15) The battle had broken Merlin. (Greater Love, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell)
Apparently I have a tendency to either cold-open onto a conversation or action, or towards a sort of blunt opening-statement-for-the-story-to-elaborate-on, and occasionally a combination of both. I think the only possible exception here is 'Cainsford’, which is pure scene-and-atmosphere establishment, because it’s a moody ghost story and needs a bit of set-dressing. Most of the others fit the cold-open or opening-theme-statement mould.
Apparently I like in medias res and/or a solid 'this is the story theme’ to start off with. Nice concrete action hooks or mood statements. Heh.
1) "… Ellie? You okay there sweetheart? Only you’ve been starin’ at this old mug for about ten minutes now, and it’s gettin’ kinda worrying.“ (Worth A Thousand Pictures, Fallout 4)
2) Nick got philosophical in the long watches of the night. (Made to Last, Fallout 4)
3) Something sparked faintly in Nick’s mouth, static off metal teeth maybe, and Sole pulled back hastily. (Acquired Taste, Fallout 4)
4) The kid slept in Nick’s arms the whole way back. (Sheltered, Fallout 4)
5) Nora blinked her eyes open, squinting exhaustedly in the greyish light that filtered through from somewhere. (Mornings Grey and Bright, Fallout 4)
6) The shot rang out through the nest of alleys, somehow noticeable even through the rest of the firestorm. (The Lights of their Eyes, Fallout 4)
7) Sole touches him. A lot. Nick can’t help but notice that. (Doubting, Dreaming, Fallout 4)
8) Sole growled and shoved Nick into the blind corner behind him, out of most of the immediate lines of fire. (The Ragged Edge, Fallout 4)
9) When I was nineteen, my first year in college, I went to stay with my great-aunt Yvonne. (Yves, Original Work)
10) In his life, having lost so many, Jingyan had thought that he had experienced every pain there was to know. (Watershed, Nirvana in Fire)
11) "I’m telling you, Khered, if one more arrogant, pissant, bull-in-a-china-shop, tin-plated nincompoop of a knight comes storming up my bloody stairs to ‘rescue me’, I am going to flatten this kingdom.” (Manners Saveth Man, Original Work)
12) "It does not seem fair.“ (A Good Death, Babylon 5)
13) The signpost loomed out of the dark and the drizzle as the bus crested the hill, glowing bright for a second as the headlights bounced off it. (Cainsford Fourteen Miles, Original Work)
14) The harsh slam of the workroom’s oaken door sounded like thunder behind them, though Thomas had some small difficulty hearing it over the thud of his own body as the King’s magic flung him unceremoniously across the anteroom. (Gravefrost and Wormwood, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell)
15) The battle had broken Merlin. (Greater Love, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell)
Apparently I have a tendency to either cold-open onto a conversation or action, or towards a sort of blunt opening-statement-for-the-story-to-elaborate-on, and occasionally a combination of both. I think the only possible exception here is 'Cainsford’, which is pure scene-and-atmosphere establishment, because it’s a moody ghost story and needs a bit of set-dressing. Most of the others fit the cold-open or opening-theme-statement mould.
Apparently I like in medias res and/or a solid 'this is the story theme’ to start off with. Nice concrete action hooks or mood statements. Heh.
