Writing Meme
Taken from, pretty much... everyone. But it was too interesting not to try, and I'm damned curious what this is going to show.
Post the first lines from your last 20 stories. Do you see a pattern?
This is a mix of fanfiction and original fiction, and much of this is sitting half finished or in pieces on my hard drive.
***
If there was one thing that Minuet Avery Revan had learned, it was that the Force very rarely led her to four star resorts. - (Parley, KoTOR)
Shepard was wasting time, and Jack couldn't fucking stand it. - (Wild Cards, Mass Effect)
In his long and varied life, Loghain had never experienced anything as undignified as sitting in his shirt and small clothes on a bed in Denerim's most notorious brothel with a pair of meddling women inspecting his flesh. - (Unshackled, Dragon Age)
As he waited for his visitor, Ja'Taren Allonis Revan paced in front of the floor-to-ceiling duraglass window that stretched along the length of his study and overlooked Courscant's bright city nightscape. (Plan B, KoTOR)
Alistair sat by the blazing fire, drinking his wine, watching his wife ache for another man. (Untitled Dragon Age fic)
Cailan woke to the sounds of a busy camp with a smile on his face. (Last Day at Ostagar, Dragon Age)
The first time Anora laid eyes on Marcus Amell, she was distinctly not impressed. (Practical Romance, Dragon Age)
Min barely noticed as the last battle droid squawked and died at her feet, exploding in a shower of white sparks. (Firestorm, KoTOR)
'Twas a beautiful autumn day, the kind that made it seem impossible to believe that Ferelden was on the cusp of a true blight with an ever-growing darkspawn horde. (Fallen Companion, Dragon Age)
Alistair threw his hands up in the air and said, "Maker's breath, you're just making this up!" (Aftershocks, Dragon Age)
Comforting warmth seeped from the coffee mug clutched in Nils' work scarred hands into his thick fingers, fighting off the ever present chill of the mining freighter's small command bridge. (Ceres, original sci-fi story)
It began over a crate of worms. (Callisto, original sci-fi story)
Min crept along the cool durasteel wall, sweat trickling down her back as the eerie keening and gibbering sounds echoed down the dim corridor. (Playing with Fire, KoTOR)
Bathed in the soft glow of the computer consoles, Minuet Avery sat in the Ebon Hawk's computer bay and stared at the map on the screen, as though by sheer force of will she could change the fact that in less than twenty-eight hours she was going to have to find a way to sneak into the heart of the Sith Academy on Korriban, find the hidden star map, and somehow get away without getting caught and killed. (Playing with Matches, KoTOR)
Every day John prayed for God to deliver his city from evil, and every day God didn't answer. (A Man of God, urban fantasy)
Ivan thought that two hundred and three was a bit too old to be having daddy issues, but then when Zeus was your father, hating him was pretty much to be expected. (Living Gods, urban fantasy)
In a brandy soaked haze, Carth stared at the door to Lieutenant Kali Ydgrass private quarters and wondered if he was drunk enough to walk through it. ( Rock Bottom, KoTOR)
Cold leached through Evie's button down sweater as she leaned against the cold metal of service entrance door frame to her bakery and took another drag of her menthol cigarette. (untitled urban fantasy)
Even through the filter of electrobinoculars, the icy glare from the vast Hothian ice field was blinding in the afternoon sunlight, but that didn’t stop the invading race of true Sith from marching through the massive dimensional gate that towered over the gathering troops and small ships. (Reforged, KoTOR)
In moments like this, when an amnesia plagued Dark Lord was staring at him like he was the biggest core slime in the galaxy, Carth Onasi wished he was a better liar. (Truce, KoTOR)
Bastila stood in the common room doorway trying to summon all of the patience and serenity her years of Jedi training ought to have given her. (Steak, Eggs and Honor, KoTOR)
***
Hmmm. A couple things strike me. All but three of these are completely character centric, but then that's not much of a shock to me, as I'm not big (or particularly good at) narrative description and such. I should try to push myself beyond that, I think.
I also think that I have a tendency to push a ton of information (pov, setting, character's name) into that first sentence sometimes, and I think it's because I have the annoying habit of not trusting my readers enough to let the information unfold bit by bit. It's like I have to say "Hey bitches - this is what's going on!"
I was wrong though about my guess that I tend to write men more than women. Out of the twenty stories, the point of view is split evenly between men and women (not that it matters I think, I just find it interesting). I'm also glad to see that I didn't start every sentence with a clause, which was something else I thought I'd discover.
I'll have to think about this some more, because I'm not quite sure what to make of this.
Post the first lines from your last 20 stories. Do you see a pattern?
This is a mix of fanfiction and original fiction, and much of this is sitting half finished or in pieces on my hard drive.
***
If there was one thing that Minuet Avery Revan had learned, it was that the Force very rarely led her to four star resorts. - (Parley, KoTOR)
Shepard was wasting time, and Jack couldn't fucking stand it. - (Wild Cards, Mass Effect)
In his long and varied life, Loghain had never experienced anything as undignified as sitting in his shirt and small clothes on a bed in Denerim's most notorious brothel with a pair of meddling women inspecting his flesh. - (Unshackled, Dragon Age)
As he waited for his visitor, Ja'Taren Allonis Revan paced in front of the floor-to-ceiling duraglass window that stretched along the length of his study and overlooked Courscant's bright city nightscape. (Plan B, KoTOR)
Alistair sat by the blazing fire, drinking his wine, watching his wife ache for another man. (Untitled Dragon Age fic)
Cailan woke to the sounds of a busy camp with a smile on his face. (Last Day at Ostagar, Dragon Age)
The first time Anora laid eyes on Marcus Amell, she was distinctly not impressed. (Practical Romance, Dragon Age)
Min barely noticed as the last battle droid squawked and died at her feet, exploding in a shower of white sparks. (Firestorm, KoTOR)
'Twas a beautiful autumn day, the kind that made it seem impossible to believe that Ferelden was on the cusp of a true blight with an ever-growing darkspawn horde. (Fallen Companion, Dragon Age)
Alistair threw his hands up in the air and said, "Maker's breath, you're just making this up!" (Aftershocks, Dragon Age)
Comforting warmth seeped from the coffee mug clutched in Nils' work scarred hands into his thick fingers, fighting off the ever present chill of the mining freighter's small command bridge. (Ceres, original sci-fi story)
It began over a crate of worms. (Callisto, original sci-fi story)
Min crept along the cool durasteel wall, sweat trickling down her back as the eerie keening and gibbering sounds echoed down the dim corridor. (Playing with Fire, KoTOR)
Bathed in the soft glow of the computer consoles, Minuet Avery sat in the Ebon Hawk's computer bay and stared at the map on the screen, as though by sheer force of will she could change the fact that in less than twenty-eight hours she was going to have to find a way to sneak into the heart of the Sith Academy on Korriban, find the hidden star map, and somehow get away without getting caught and killed. (Playing with Matches, KoTOR)
Every day John prayed for God to deliver his city from evil, and every day God didn't answer. (A Man of God, urban fantasy)
Ivan thought that two hundred and three was a bit too old to be having daddy issues, but then when Zeus was your father, hating him was pretty much to be expected. (Living Gods, urban fantasy)
In a brandy soaked haze, Carth stared at the door to Lieutenant Kali Ydgrass private quarters and wondered if he was drunk enough to walk through it. ( Rock Bottom, KoTOR)
Cold leached through Evie's button down sweater as she leaned against the cold metal of service entrance door frame to her bakery and took another drag of her menthol cigarette. (untitled urban fantasy)
Even through the filter of electrobinoculars, the icy glare from the vast Hothian ice field was blinding in the afternoon sunlight, but that didn’t stop the invading race of true Sith from marching through the massive dimensional gate that towered over the gathering troops and small ships. (Reforged, KoTOR)
In moments like this, when an amnesia plagued Dark Lord was staring at him like he was the biggest core slime in the galaxy, Carth Onasi wished he was a better liar. (Truce, KoTOR)
Bastila stood in the common room doorway trying to summon all of the patience and serenity her years of Jedi training ought to have given her. (Steak, Eggs and Honor, KoTOR)
***
Hmmm. A couple things strike me. All but three of these are completely character centric, but then that's not much of a shock to me, as I'm not big (or particularly good at) narrative description and such. I should try to push myself beyond that, I think.
I also think that I have a tendency to push a ton of information (pov, setting, character's name) into that first sentence sometimes, and I think it's because I have the annoying habit of not trusting my readers enough to let the information unfold bit by bit. It's like I have to say "Hey bitches - this is what's going on!"
I was wrong though about my guess that I tend to write men more than women. Out of the twenty stories, the point of view is split evenly between men and women (not that it matters I think, I just find it interesting). I'm also glad to see that I didn't start every sentence with a clause, which was something else I thought I'd discover.
I'll have to think about this some more, because I'm not quite sure what to make of this.