Erin Ptah (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ptahrrific) wrote2009-03-12 09:51 pm
ptahrrific) wrote2009-03-12 09:51 pm
First lines meme
Snagged from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tehlobster:
Post the first lines from each of your 25 most recent fanfic pieces and try to find a pattern.
(Am skipping drabbles, and only taking the first chapter of a given story/series.)
1. "It's not FAIR!" hollered George, at the top of his five-year-old lungs. --George's World
2. The phone rang twice during dinner. --Grey, And Oh So Soft
3. Stephen meant to save his best lines for the interview. --Un-American
4. Stephen let out a low whistle as he climbed out of the limo. --The Great Divide
5. Stephen breaks up with Jon, for the Very Last Time, approximately every other week. --Cycles
6. It starts with the biker. --Five Times Chuck And Stephen Had Sex (Mostly With Each Other)
7. "The judges must have been bribed," declared Stephen. "It's the only explanation." --Firm Haunches
8. Jon is here. --Till It Be Morrow
9. Sure, there are some crazy people in the world. --In Time
10. "We don't coddle new agents here—and especially considering your, errrr, special talents, we'd like you to get straight to work on ACME's hardest case." --The Mission [OMFSM, something not fake news!]
11. "Stephen?" Jon rapped on the frosted windowpane. --With Painful Steps And Slow
12. The court-ordered therapy was the best thing that had ever happened to Stephen. --All The King's Horses
13. "Coffee, Mr. Stewart?" --Slow Me Down
14. "Stephen! Message for you!" --One, Two, Three, Twist, Bam [At least it's a different Stephen this time.]
15. Jon was starting to think that he had been entirely wrong about Colbert. --Five Ways Stephen's Wildest Fantasy (The One Where He And Jon Imbibe A Dangerous Amount Of Alcohol, Then Shag Until The Sun Comes Up) Didn't Come True
16. Even with the big map up on the wall, laying out the win in red and blue, I almost couldn't believe it. --COMFORT ME.
17. Dear Mr. Colbert,
Apparently you can't take a blatant hint even when I put it right in front of your face. --Waiting
18. It started, as so many of these things do, on Good Time Island. --Why Should I Care?
19. On a really good day, Krazy will fall asleep with ears still ringing. --There Is A Happy Land [more of the not-fake-news!]
20. The first time he appears in her domain, she doesn't ask questions. --Ten Times The Doctor Met Sailor Pluto [and again!]
21. "I did." --See The Little Unicorn There
22. ". . . I don't think I can do this." --Also Good For Play
23. The midday sun shone hot on the brilliant blue vista of the South Pacific. --Truthiness And Relative Dimensions In Space
23. They had taken her rosary. --In The Beginning [which got exactly zero comments. Apparently nobody is here for the Hellsing fic :/]
25. There is a scary lady in Seamus' house. --Five Times Seamus Noblet Spent With His Father
Well, at least one pattern jumps out right from the start. Stephen did this, Stephen did that, this happened to Stephen, that about Colbert, "Mr. Colbert," "Stephen?", "Stephen!"
Other than that, though, not a bad mix. A couple of visual scene-setters (16, 23), some straightforward dialogue (1, 7), some ambiguous dialogue that only starts to make sense as the story goes on (21, 22), a few that are all exposition (5, 12), some first-person (16, 17), some third-person-limited (25, 20, 9), some very short (8, 21) and some longer (10) but most somewhere in the middle.
Though I should probably lay the "it start(s/ed)" line (6, 18) to rest. And, seriously, try to find more creative kickoffs than "Stephen did X". (Though, in the case of 3, I confess I was really just trying to get the beginning over with so I could get to the smut.)
(What say the rest of you? Any thoughts? Observations? Blatantly obvious patterns that you can't believe I haven't spotted, already?)
tehlobster:Post the first lines from each of your 25 most recent fanfic pieces and try to find a pattern.
(Am skipping drabbles, and only taking the first chapter of a given story/series.)
1. "It's not FAIR!" hollered George, at the top of his five-year-old lungs. --George's World
2. The phone rang twice during dinner. --Grey, And Oh So Soft
3. Stephen meant to save his best lines for the interview. --Un-American
4. Stephen let out a low whistle as he climbed out of the limo. --The Great Divide
5. Stephen breaks up with Jon, for the Very Last Time, approximately every other week. --Cycles
6. It starts with the biker. --Five Times Chuck And Stephen Had Sex (Mostly With Each Other)
7. "The judges must have been bribed," declared Stephen. "It's the only explanation." --Firm Haunches
8. Jon is here. --Till It Be Morrow
9. Sure, there are some crazy people in the world. --In Time
10. "We don't coddle new agents here—and especially considering your, errrr, special talents, we'd like you to get straight to work on ACME's hardest case." --The Mission [OMFSM, something not fake news!]
11. "Stephen?" Jon rapped on the frosted windowpane. --With Painful Steps And Slow
12. The court-ordered therapy was the best thing that had ever happened to Stephen. --All The King's Horses
13. "Coffee, Mr. Stewart?" --Slow Me Down
14. "Stephen! Message for you!" --One, Two, Three, Twist, Bam [At least it's a different Stephen this time.]
15. Jon was starting to think that he had been entirely wrong about Colbert. --Five Ways Stephen's Wildest Fantasy (The One Where He And Jon Imbibe A Dangerous Amount Of Alcohol, Then Shag Until The Sun Comes Up) Didn't Come True
16. Even with the big map up on the wall, laying out the win in red and blue, I almost couldn't believe it. --COMFORT ME.
17. Dear Mr. Colbert,
Apparently you can't take a blatant hint even when I put it right in front of your face. --Waiting
18. It started, as so many of these things do, on Good Time Island. --Why Should I Care?
19. On a really good day, Krazy will fall asleep with ears still ringing. --There Is A Happy Land [more of the not-fake-news!]
20. The first time he appears in her domain, she doesn't ask questions. --Ten Times The Doctor Met Sailor Pluto [and again!]
21. "I did." --See The Little Unicorn There
22. ". . . I don't think I can do this." --Also Good For Play
23. The midday sun shone hot on the brilliant blue vista of the South Pacific. --Truthiness And Relative Dimensions In Space
23. They had taken her rosary. --In The Beginning [which got exactly zero comments. Apparently nobody is here for the Hellsing fic :/]
25. There is a scary lady in Seamus' house. --Five Times Seamus Noblet Spent With His Father
Well, at least one pattern jumps out right from the start. Stephen did this, Stephen did that, this happened to Stephen, that about Colbert, "Mr. Colbert," "Stephen?", "Stephen!"
Other than that, though, not a bad mix. A couple of visual scene-setters (16, 23), some straightforward dialogue (1, 7), some ambiguous dialogue that only starts to make sense as the story goes on (21, 22), a few that are all exposition (5, 12), some first-person (16, 17), some third-person-limited (25, 20, 9), some very short (8, 21) and some longer (10) but most somewhere in the middle.
Though I should probably lay the "it start(s/ed)" line (6, 18) to rest. And, seriously, try to find more creative kickoffs than "Stephen did X". (Though, in the case of 3, I confess I was really just trying to get the beginning over with so I could get to the smut.)
(What say the rest of you? Any thoughts? Observations? Blatantly obvious patterns that you can't believe I haven't spotted, already?)
no subject
no subject
no subject
all thoughts of intelligent observation of patterns, or even my usual offerings of adulation for your writing... pretty much disappeared into a fit of gleeful giggling at OMFSM!