#First Line

[spinderella-umbrella]

📝 Writing Patterns

Thank you for the tag @wanderingdonut & @onehundredflamingos 🥰

List the first line of your last 10 (or however many you have) posted fics and see if there's a pattern. (I’m either painting a picture with character movement or using short punchy statements apparently)

How to tell your best friend you're in love with them

When Remus had admitted to Peter that he was in love with his best friend, the first thing he asked Remus was, when did you realise?

Dance Little Liar

“He seems happier lately, don’t you think?” Sirius says, a touch of dazedness in his tone as he watches their unit's Supervisory Special Agent going through a file with Special Agent Marlene McKinnon.

A Certain Romance

Barty’s hand is in his as they lead him up the stairs of a brownstone, Evan ahead of them both to unlock the door.

Peter Loves Christmas

Peter had always felt amazing at Christmas. 

You only Really Knew my Name

The summer had been hard. 

Don’t Stop Looking

Regulus learned a lot of things over the summer.

What Could Have Been

Remus had been robbed of a normal adolescence when he was bitten by Fenrir Greyback at 5 years old.

Smutty Summer Solstice

Sirius shifts to accommodate Marlene as she makes herself comfortable, cuddling up to his side on the couch.

Nightmare Summer Camp

Mary climbs out of her tent with the ribbon from a pair of pyjama pants, tripping over the lip of the tent and giggling as she stumbles towards where she left Remus sitting on a log by the fire.

Shattered

“Remus.” Regulus whines as the door to the dressing room closes behind him.

The tag dies here bc I’m slow and all my friends have been tagged 😁

[katy-l-wood]

The opening line of my book launching on Kickstarter on March 1st! I think this is one of my favorite opening lines I've ever written.

You can learn more about the project here.

[innocentlymacabre]

They came for us in the dead of night, under the cover of darkness. Like cowards.

~~ first line from a short story entering production

[pluralprompts]

Prompt #1,623

Once upon a time, there lived a system who set out to understand magic.

[kasienda]

Opening Line Patterns

thanks for the tag @ladyofthenoodle!

Rules: List the first line of your last 10 posted fics and see if there's a pattern. I'm not going to link each individual fic, but here's my Ao3 if something catches your fancy! :)

From most to least recent:

Rena Rouge: Secret Keeper - Ch 4 Chat Noir was earlier than Ladybug. That was hardly unusual. What was unusual was that he was dreading her arrival.

The Untold Story of DJWiFi - Ch 9 Alya’s biggest complaint about being tied up in a giant spider’s web was that she couldn’t film the whole akuma encounter.

Bend the World Around It - Ch 3 They don’t talk about their names and identities. He doesn’t ask and she doesn’t want to talk about it anyway. It’ll just make them both sad.

Not Part of the Plan - Ch 12 She wakes up next to Adrien. He looks as gorgeous as ever and more than anything she wants to throw herself at him and have her way with him.

Celebrity Status - Ch 7 I can’t believe Ladybug dropped someone! 

Miraculous Reveal #15 - Rings True I figured out who Monarch is. He’s Gabriel Agreste. Meet me at the Agreste Mansion.

Right Behind You - Ch 13 Nino adjusted the headphones over his ears, and hit play again, listening to the track he had so far.

Yin and Yang - Ch 5 Adrien’s room was something out of a child’s fantasy.

Spin the Bottle Nathaniel’s family home is not as large or ostentatious as the Agreste family manor, but that only means Adrien feels more at ease.

Aftermath - Ch 5 After their unplanned disaster sleepover, Marinette and Adrien fell strictly back into their routine.

Well, in 6/10 the first line seems to serve to establish where the character is more than anything else. Nothing too fancy about those.

And in 5/10 (with some definite overlap with the previous six) there's something in there to quickly establish the character's mood/mental space.

In 2/10 it's a line of text! I think this is interesting in that it's similar to starting with a line of dialogue, which is very easy for me, but I've mostly trained myself out of that. Mostly! Haha! But apparently I can still find ways to cheat. I'm actually shocked that none of these are an ACTUAL line of dialogue. I'm sure that it will happen again.

I don't usually put a lot of energy into the opening line. I more try to get into a character's head and that often takes more than one line and I usually find the rhythm later. The first line is helpful for getting in that mood though and getting words to flow!

No pressure tags to: @asukiess @bbutterflies @bittersweetresilience @jennagrinsoverml @blur0se

[bourbon-ontherocks]

First line tag!

I was tagged by (I think? I'm sorry but it was a while ago) @sothischickshe and @pia-writes-things ❤️❤️

Rule: List the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern!

– Je vais, heu… je vais quitter la conversation. Au-revoir. "I, uh... I'm gonna leave the conversation. Good-bye."

Il faudrait penser à colmater cette fissure dans le mur. Someone should plug that crack in the wall.

Florence tombe. Florence collapses.

— Bon ben, encore une affaire rondement m'née ! On fait une bonne équipe, hein ? "Another case smoothly handled! You and I make a good team, yeah?"

Aujourd'hui est un jour particulier. Today is a special day.

La situation est tellement cliché que c’en est rageant. The situation rings so cliché, it's infuriating.

Les impacts de balles courent sur le crépi défraîchi en une cicatrice minérale, une mémoire qui résonne encore dans ses oreilles, et elle manque de renoncer. The bullet marks run across the worn-out render like a mineral scar, a memory still echoing in her ears, and she almost gives up.

Elle va bien. She's fine.

– J'ai pas les enfants, ce soir, vous… vous voulez venir ? "I don't have the kids tonight, you... do you want to come in?"

Hébétude. A daze.

There's definitely a pattern, which doesn't come as a surprise since I generally give a lot of thought to my first lines.

I hate first lines that feel too exposition-y so I like diving right in the middle of the action with a short sentence and a tight POV, like we just barged into someone's inner monologue. I always try to make it a bit immersive and intriguing, for instance by mixing a domestic thought with a rather odd or insignificant detail (e.g. something like "they ran out of her usual detergent brand." or "In retrospect, his life choices had not been that bad.") to create a connection with the reader and make them want to know more.

More rarely, I'll start with a dialogue line that's almost always borrowed from canon. This tends to happen for fix-it fics of sorts that start immediately after a canon scene, to show where I start off.

I don't know who has or hasn't done this yet since I come way after the battle, so feel free to play anyone, and I'll tag @hemerae-ramblings @luluonthemoon @sdktrs12 @michelleelizabethtanner just in case but no presh 😘

[jackluvsdaniel]

First Line/Last Line

—rules: pick your 5 most recent fics and list the first and last lines, no context

thanks for the tag @cowboy-buddie 💜

the pause between

Evan Buckley opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by blue jungle. 

Thanks to Eddie and Chris, the Grant-Nash family, and his friends at the 118, he had them in abundance. 

your heart is the softest place

Eddie is wiping down the counters and debating the wisdom of another beer before bed when his phone chimes with a new text from Karen.

Buck raises his head and looks at him, eyes shining and smiling sweetly. “Tell me.”  

that kind of day

Buck knows it’s going to be that kind of day before he even gets through the firehouse doors.

Yep, Buck thought, it was going to be that kind of day.

dear instagram, i'm in love with a boy

The whole experiment is Frank’s fault.

They shared a soft smile, laced their fingers together and finish the climb, ready to wade into the blissful chaos of this new life.  Together.

put your head on my shoulder

Buck followed Eddie into the house, closing the door quietly behind him.

He tenderly kissed the bandage on Eddie’s forehead one last time, and finally relaxed and drifted off to sleep.

I'm gonna leave this as an open tag to all of my beautiful author friends who want to play. If you do it, tag me so I can share it 💜💜

[ahordeofwasps]

First Line Tag

I've been tagged by the magnficent @emabatis! Thanks for the tag! I'll be sharing the first bit of Crying Wolf!

But first, the no pressure tags! I'll be tagging @mary-is-writing, @winterandwords, @loopyhoopywrites, @emelkae, and open tag!

Now, onto Crying Wolf!

Justine protected a bad man. She did not want to but she had to. She had to protect a bad man to protect Theo. She had to protect him because she had gotten on the bad side of the “guards” in the Capital, they who guarded wealthy ganglords instead of the people.

[bulgara]

Balchik City // Winter Time // Bulgaria 🇧🇬

[megafandombandgeekgirl]

Just curious. Been reading a lot. Add in the tags your favorite first lines and whether you think they help get you hooked!

[katy-l-wood]

This is probably one of my favorite opening lines I have ever written.

You can get "The Pits" from pretty much any online retailer, and I've also collected a set of links for where to get it right here on my website!

[rmd-writes]

First Line Tag Game

Tagged by @hippolotamus - thanks for always tagging me in fun things 💖

Rules: Post the first lines of your last 10 fics posted to ao3. if you have less than 10 fics posted, post the first lines of all your fics.

(I’m cheating and skipping the drabble collections)

and this is romance, let’s dance (Tarlos)

Carlos has to admire TK’s confidence in following him onto the dance floor and attempting to line dance – something he’s clearly never done before.

the strong will never fall (Tarlos)

“TK?” Carlos’ voice brings him back to the present and he turns to look at his fiancè, who’s looking back at him with concern written across his face.

these are the moments i cherish (Tarlos)

TK will never, ever get tired of being kissed by his husband.

Precious Love (Tarlos)

When TK’s mom picks him up from the bus station after summer camp, he’s excited to see her and tell her all about it, but she seems like she’s in a strange mood.

Your Place or Mine? (Tarlos)

TK and Carlos sleep in Carlos’ room on their final night at the Reyes ranch, curled around each other in Carlos’ bed – deliberately this time – although things don’t get any further than some lazy making out and a little grinding, once they’re both hard in their pyjamas and pressed against each other.

Soon (Tarlos)

TK loves this.

Make the Yuletide Gay (Tarlos)

Walking into the lecture theatre for his Queer Lit class, Carlos can’t quite believe that he’s even doing this.

you’re all that i need (Alex & Henry)

“I still can’t believe you work here,” Alex drawls, leaning across the counter.

and then one day, everything changed (David & Patrick)

Dear Marcy,

Thanks for agreeing to talk to me about becoming a Rose Apothecary vendor.

Let Me Hear Your Body Talk (Tarlos)

Carlos did text TK.

Tagging: @mostlyinthemorning @likerealpeopledo-on-ao3 @wordthieve @goodiecornbread @welcometololaland @good-ways @strandnreyes @liminalmemories21 @beautifulhigh @three-drink-amy @clottedcreamfudge @cha-melodius

[fierypen37]

Ten First Line Game

Ten first lines game!

Rules: Share the first line of ten of your most recent fanfics and then tag ten people. Don't have ten? Not to worry, just share what you have (ignore if you’ve been tagged)

@ashleyfanfic @adecila @frostbitepandaaaaa @justwandering-neverlost @enygma0710 @likexporcelain @evax3

1. “Her harsh scream reverberated in a small, filthy room. Bon clutched the small boy to his chest, shushing him and petting his shorn silver hair.” The Disappeared Ones

2. “Jon woke to pain. A pounding pain in the back of his head, a throb in his thigh, another in his shoulder. Along with the pain came grief.” Victory is in Your Veins

3. “The whole thing was the Lord Hand’s idea. Liven up these drab noblemen’s lives. Have a bit of fun, for gods’ sake!” Virtue a Veil, Vice a Mask

4. “The Night’s Watch was slammed tonight. There were three things northerners loved in boisterous, unabashed fashion: ale, rugby, and hockey.” An Acquired Taste

5. “Guilt and desire were cruel masters. Snowflakes fell in a cold, feathery kiss on his upturned face.” The Flames Just Get Higher

6. “At birth, she had been given a name. Stormborn.” A Thousand Roads Lead Me to You

7. “Jon threw down a wad of cash on the glass countertop—his winnings from the pool Tormund had started. No one had expected him to actually capture Daenerys’ interest, least of all Jon.” The Truth Bites

8. “Daenerys paced in the cramped space of her underground sleeping quarters, frustrated.” For Now

9.  “Jon squinted at his reflection in the bathroom mirror.” First Blush

10. “If you had seen Daenerys Targaryen that day, you would have done the same thing as me. Hands down, guaran-fucking-teed.” A Work of Art

[pluralprompts]

Prompt #1,559

It was like falling through stars.

[mountaingoatsfirstlineaday]

you smile at me in total defiance of all decency

[thinlinez]

First Lines Challenge

Thx to the wonderful @beardyboyzx and @brightgolden for tagging me to do this!

I am gonna ignore my old fics so I won't have ten fics (sorry not sorry hahhaha) I'm just gonna ignore the order too and post what I see first!

Here goes!

Bikestrike : Just when Harry had decided things couldn’t get any worse, a pigeon dropped a bomb on his book bag while he was eating at one of the picnic tables scattered around campus.

Lock On : “Oi, mate!”

Awaken As Mine : At the tender age of eleven, Harry was already convinced he had found his alpha.

Strap Up : “Here, let Daddy hold the flowers for you.”

I actually quite like to start with a dialogue sentence! I am tagging @marchessa @chai-hat-tea @imogenleefic @unreadablehandle @cyantific @neondiamond @guccistrawberries plz do this!