Friday, March 08, 2013

Talk about a GREAT first line!

"I kissed a girl, and 10 yards away a Buick exploded."


Talk about enticing!


Who cares what the article is about, or even who wrote it ... just tell me what the hell happens next!


Enticing is EXACTLY you what you want in a query letter, and in the first pages of a novel.

But if you, like me, do want to know what happens next, here's Phillip dePoy's essay on  Theatre in Atlanta.

8 comments:

Carolynnwith2Ns said...

Jeez Janet how do find this stuff? You sure swim in different circles than this minnow.
The 60's, I should have worn more mini skirts and shouted louder.

Steven J. Wangsness said...

Well, I once kissed a girl and my Buick almost exploded, but with experience I learned to control it better.

Marsha Sigman said...

Love that essay. Thank you.

Here's to great first lines and the even greater stories that follow.

Debra Lynn Shelton said...

Sounds like sparks literally flew.

Michael Seese said...

Try this one on for size: "There was a loud bang, and then my head hurt."

Unknown said...

I do not know what is great about that first line. Looks like either romance, hyper action, or both combined. I actually curled my lip and turned away on reading it. Not sure I'd even read the whole paragraph.

Are we at that point we have to have romance at the beginning of every novel for an agent to be interested?

- said...

Meanwhile, in an alternate universe, another novel begins: I kissed a Buick and ten day later, my girlfriend exploded.

Michael Seese said...

@ -said

Nice!