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A quick writing/storycraft meme, mostly for my own benefit. I have some odd habits with opening lines, yes?
Post the first lines of your 20 most recent fics, and see if there are any patterns.
Post the first lines of your 20 most recent fics, and see if there are any patterns.
Opening Lines of My Last 20 Stories:
01) No amount of technology, no remote control or UAV flight, would ever replace the pilot. (Skybreak, Avengers)
02) He watched her a lot. (Don't Want The World To See Me, Person of Interest)
03) Okay. Tony was just going to be honest, here. (With Only A Lexicon, Avengers)
04) Stark had given them a room. (Harbour, Avengers)
05) New York was a mess. (Running Hot, Rolling Low, Avengers)
06) "We are not warriors. We are weapons. We are Fateforged." (Fateforged, Remade, Avengers)
07) His hunters were mudwriting, their laboured breathing echoing in the cyberscape, the thud-thud, thud-thud of their racing hearts as loud as thunder in the datasilence. (Gods and Geists, Avengers)
08) The hall was immense, a cavernous void where pillars of concrete stretched up into the darkness towards the invisible ceiling, an echoing chasm where distant anbaric lights played and the hulking forms of vast machines chittered in the darkness between pillars. (Ghosts of Weyland, Avengers)
09) They found Loki in the center of a circle of destruction. (Flying the Void, Avengers)
10) In the end, for all that it took the better part of three days to organise, the convoy off Tannhauser was kind of anticlimactic. (FleetHome, Avengers)
11) It horrified many people. (Gates of Horn or of Pearl, Inception)
12) One of the advantages of a flagship versus an Interceptor class, Steve thought idly, was that on the flagship you could get an actual, honest-to-god water shower. (Liminal Transmission, Avengers)
13) Nick took a deep breath, clasping his hands lightly together behind his back. (Lines Holding Fast, Avengers)
14) He dreamed in a void that was not empty. (Arc Voltaic, Avengers)
15) Tony came home to find Rhodey on his couch, down in the lab. (Simple Promises, Avengers)
16) Pepper caught Tony's eyes briefly, as he dithered in the hallway looking between her on the one hand, and the woman behind her, and Bruce's retreating form on the other. (Shoulder to Shoulder, Avengers)
17) It was strange, Jean-Luc thought, leaning carefully into the warm silence at his back. (Illusory Embrace, Star Trek: Next Gen)
18) There were worlds in the making of things. (Livewire, Avengers)
19) Rhodey sucked in a desperate breath, releasing it on a long sigh as he dropped his head carefully back onto the floor. (Stratospheric, Avengers)
20) Steve took a deep breath, subconsciously squaring his shoulders as he met Tony's confused, but not necessarily unwelcoming, gaze. (Acquired Vocabulary, Avengers)
Any patterns. Hmm.
Well, slightly bizarrely, four of the past twenty stories have started with people breathing (#07, #13, #19, #20). Of those, two are people preparing for difficult conversations (Nick and Steve), one is a man recovering from sex (Rhodey), and one is a group of minds failing to adapt to a cyber environment to the extent that they're instinctively mimicking bodily functions (Gods and Geists). So breathing is a mechanism of recovery, of bolstering reserves and courage, and a sign of people's dependance on their bodies. And, apparently, something my brain likes to start stories with. *shrugs* I don't even know?
A lot of the stories start with a flat, passive statement of overall circumstances/starting conditions (#01, #05, #10, #11, #18). A quick statement that technology won't replace people, that the city was a mess, that something horrified people. A few other stories start with a slightly more personal (as in, involving a character) statement of circumstance (#02, #04, #09, #14). He watched her, Stark gave them a room, they found Loki, he dreamed in a void. Then a few more are personal observations on behalf of the POV character (#03, #12, #17). Tony's going to be honest, flagships have advantages for Steve, Jean-Luc thinks something's strange.
Most of them are basically just short statements that outline the situation or give the POV character something to react to in order to lead in to the meat of the story. I do have a tendency, when trying to start stories off, of just having the POV character or the text make a relatively random or tangential observation of the surrounding situation. Sometimes, by later happenstance, that observation actually becomes a building block for the theme (there are worlds in the making of things, Steve on showers, Tony in a void that isn't empty, that the sleepers horrified people, that technology doesn't replace pilots for Rhodey, possibly Loki in the circle of destruction), others are slightly more set-dressing (Stark gave them a room, the city was a mess), some of them just put the character's headspace in focus (he watched her, the city was a mess, Jean-Luc's life is strange). All of them are more or less a means to trick myself sideways into the situation, rather than trying to hit it head on with a blunt opening.
Then there are a couple of quick character interactions scattered through, just setting up a conversation (#15, #16, #20 again, maybe #09). Tony and Pepper having a moment of silent communication before dealing with their respective battered companions, Steve gearing up to talk to Tony, Tony finding Rhodey, the Avengers finding Loki. Just quick character/conversation introductions.
And then, at the end, there are a couple of openings that are mostly or purely set-dressing (#06, #07, #08, #10, #12). Mostly on the AUs, which need a little bit more introduction than just characters and/or short observations on pre-existing situations. Putting in a touch of context and worldbuilding so people know it's not the usual set-up. I'm not sure how well I tend to do that, either under- or over-shooting, but I do tend to try it. Heh.
Um. Those are all the patterns that are sticking out to me. Anyone else seeing any other ones?
01) No amount of technology, no remote control or UAV flight, would ever replace the pilot. (Skybreak, Avengers)
02) He watched her a lot. (Don't Want The World To See Me, Person of Interest)
03) Okay. Tony was just going to be honest, here. (With Only A Lexicon, Avengers)
04) Stark had given them a room. (Harbour, Avengers)
05) New York was a mess. (Running Hot, Rolling Low, Avengers)
06) "We are not warriors. We are weapons. We are Fateforged." (Fateforged, Remade, Avengers)
07) His hunters were mudwriting, their laboured breathing echoing in the cyberscape, the thud-thud, thud-thud of their racing hearts as loud as thunder in the datasilence. (Gods and Geists, Avengers)
08) The hall was immense, a cavernous void where pillars of concrete stretched up into the darkness towards the invisible ceiling, an echoing chasm where distant anbaric lights played and the hulking forms of vast machines chittered in the darkness between pillars. (Ghosts of Weyland, Avengers)
09) They found Loki in the center of a circle of destruction. (Flying the Void, Avengers)
10) In the end, for all that it took the better part of three days to organise, the convoy off Tannhauser was kind of anticlimactic. (FleetHome, Avengers)
11) It horrified many people. (Gates of Horn or of Pearl, Inception)
12) One of the advantages of a flagship versus an Interceptor class, Steve thought idly, was that on the flagship you could get an actual, honest-to-god water shower. (Liminal Transmission, Avengers)
13) Nick took a deep breath, clasping his hands lightly together behind his back. (Lines Holding Fast, Avengers)
14) He dreamed in a void that was not empty. (Arc Voltaic, Avengers)
15) Tony came home to find Rhodey on his couch, down in the lab. (Simple Promises, Avengers)
16) Pepper caught Tony's eyes briefly, as he dithered in the hallway looking between her on the one hand, and the woman behind her, and Bruce's retreating form on the other. (Shoulder to Shoulder, Avengers)
17) It was strange, Jean-Luc thought, leaning carefully into the warm silence at his back. (Illusory Embrace, Star Trek: Next Gen)
18) There were worlds in the making of things. (Livewire, Avengers)
19) Rhodey sucked in a desperate breath, releasing it on a long sigh as he dropped his head carefully back onto the floor. (Stratospheric, Avengers)
20) Steve took a deep breath, subconsciously squaring his shoulders as he met Tony's confused, but not necessarily unwelcoming, gaze. (Acquired Vocabulary, Avengers)
Any patterns. Hmm.
Well, slightly bizarrely, four of the past twenty stories have started with people breathing (#07, #13, #19, #20). Of those, two are people preparing for difficult conversations (Nick and Steve), one is a man recovering from sex (Rhodey), and one is a group of minds failing to adapt to a cyber environment to the extent that they're instinctively mimicking bodily functions (Gods and Geists). So breathing is a mechanism of recovery, of bolstering reserves and courage, and a sign of people's dependance on their bodies. And, apparently, something my brain likes to start stories with. *shrugs* I don't even know?
A lot of the stories start with a flat, passive statement of overall circumstances/starting conditions (#01, #05, #10, #11, #18). A quick statement that technology won't replace people, that the city was a mess, that something horrified people. A few other stories start with a slightly more personal (as in, involving a character) statement of circumstance (#02, #04, #09, #14). He watched her, Stark gave them a room, they found Loki, he dreamed in a void. Then a few more are personal observations on behalf of the POV character (#03, #12, #17). Tony's going to be honest, flagships have advantages for Steve, Jean-Luc thinks something's strange.
Most of them are basically just short statements that outline the situation or give the POV character something to react to in order to lead in to the meat of the story. I do have a tendency, when trying to start stories off, of just having the POV character or the text make a relatively random or tangential observation of the surrounding situation. Sometimes, by later happenstance, that observation actually becomes a building block for the theme (there are worlds in the making of things, Steve on showers, Tony in a void that isn't empty, that the sleepers horrified people, that technology doesn't replace pilots for Rhodey, possibly Loki in the circle of destruction), others are slightly more set-dressing (Stark gave them a room, the city was a mess), some of them just put the character's headspace in focus (he watched her, the city was a mess, Jean-Luc's life is strange). All of them are more or less a means to trick myself sideways into the situation, rather than trying to hit it head on with a blunt opening.
Then there are a couple of quick character interactions scattered through, just setting up a conversation (#15, #16, #20 again, maybe #09). Tony and Pepper having a moment of silent communication before dealing with their respective battered companions, Steve gearing up to talk to Tony, Tony finding Rhodey, the Avengers finding Loki. Just quick character/conversation introductions.
And then, at the end, there are a couple of openings that are mostly or purely set-dressing (#06, #07, #08, #10, #12). Mostly on the AUs, which need a little bit more introduction than just characters and/or short observations on pre-existing situations. Putting in a touch of context and worldbuilding so people know it's not the usual set-up. I'm not sure how well I tend to do that, either under- or over-shooting, but I do tend to try it. Heh.
Um. Those are all the patterns that are sticking out to me. Anyone else seeing any other ones?
