Post #248 March 8 2021 “First Lines and Why We Need Them” “Call me Ishmael.” These words, the opening line of Moby Dick, have immortalized this story for a century and a half. What makes for good first lines? Are they really that important? Here are five well known ones: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy) “It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.” 1984 (George Orwell) “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….” A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens) “Through the fence, between the curling flower spaces, I could see them hitting.” The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner) “All this happened, more or less.” Slaughterhouse-Five (Kurt Vonnegut) Here’s one of my own, from a science fiction novel: “On Europa, there is only ice…to the naked eye. Ice cliffs and ice valleys. Ice ravines and ice canyons. Ice bergs, buttes, badlands. Ice continents. Above the ice is the vacuum of space. Below the ice is a vast ocean, black as night. Normally, the two don’t mix.” Johnny Winger and the Europa Quandary (Philip Bosshardt) First lines are vital to any writing. I can’t think of any type of writing—fiction, nonfiction, news writing, sports writing, even technical writing (which I did for years) in which the first lines aren’t important, even critical. Why should this be so? Below are some ideas on why first lines matter a great deal to any writer. 1. First lines should intrigue the reader. These words should capture attention, grab the reader by the shoulders and say, “Hey, pay attention! Something important, something different is about to happen. You don’t want to miss this.” Of course, there are an infinite number of ways to do this…just look at the list above. One of my favorites from the list is the selection from 1984. From this short sentence, you can intuit that something strange is going on, or about to happen. 2. First lines should set the stage. They should establish a tone or at least some atmosphere. Look at the selection above from Tolstoy. It indicates the upcoming story must be about families. And specifically, about families in both good times and bad. Then there’s the distinction between happy and unhappy, implying that we’re about to see how bad things can get. 3. First lines (ideally) should pose a problem…or introduce a character. Look at the selection from Slaughterhouse-Five. This is a more or less satirical, semi-autobiographical account of Vonnegut’s experience as a German POW in World War II, when the city of Dresden was firebombed. The opening line is just six words. With these six words, Vonnegut implies a true story is coming, but there may be parts that are more true than others, which is the nature of satire…a greater truth buried in the minutiae of strange, unbelievable goings-on. I read these opening words the same way I read the Orwell selection…something’s just a little bit off. The problem posed is to figure what’s true and what’s not really true. Or take the Dickens selection. “The best of times, the worst of times.” What’s the problem being posed here? Maybe nothing more than how to survive when Life or Fate or the Universe constantly throws curveballs at you every day. First lines set up the reader for what is to come, be it a story, a non-fiction article, an essay, or whatever. The first words you write are like the cornerstone of a house foundation. Everything else is built from and on that. The next post to The Word Shed comes on March 15, 2021. See you then. Phil B.