First Lines

     All authors love different parts of the writing process. Some like the first line. Some like the first chapter. Some like the middle, or the climax. And some like the ending.
     I like a lot of it, but what I probably like the most is the first line of the whole book. This may not be my strongest point. Actually I'd say it's not my strongest point. But I do love first lines. The first line of a book is called the hook. It is what is used to pull the reader into the story and make them want to continue reading it.

     Some of my favorite first lines are as follows.
     "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." This of course is from The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien.
     "It is the first day of November and so today someone will die." The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater.
     "'You stop fearing the Devil when you're holding his hand.'" Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve 
     "What if Shakespeare had it wrong?" Just One Day Gayle Foreman
     "The thing is, all memory is fiction." Heading Out to Wonderful by Robert Goolrick
     And of course who can forget. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

     There are many ways to write a first line. There are many things you can do with a first line.
     A lot of classic books and several modern books use narrative as their first line. The Hobbit quote is an example of this. It is a sparking line that starts the story and continues it.
     Several authors these days use a line of dialogue to start their novels. The Devil quote is dialogue used as the first line. It is a good way to open the story interestingly, but also open it quickly and puts the reader right into the story.
     Most authors like their first line to have shock value. The Just One Day quote is an example of this. Everyone knows who Shakespeare is. And I'm pretty sure, by now, no one questions him. So What is Foreman doing stating something so boldly? She is using if for shock value. And for me, it worked. I would also say the Heading Out quote does a good job of this. Most people believe their memories to be just that, memories. True memories. Fact. But for Goolrick to state that they are, in fact, fiction, is a bold statement and something that may shock some readers.
     Another way to use a first line is to ask a question. The Foreman quote also does this well. Sometimes asking a question is not a good idea. If the reader is asked to engage right away, it may throw the reader off and make them not want to read that book. But asking a question in the first line may be a good way of engaging the reader. If they are ready for it. It may also make them feel important to the story.
     You may not see why the first lines of a novel are so important and why they are so vital to the story.

Paperback

     Hello all. It has been a long time. And that is because I have been spending my time getting the paperback ready for you. So maybe you will forgive me.
     So, making the paperback was a lot more difficult than I would have expected. It didn't take as long as I would have expected but at the same time it took far longer than I would have expected. I got it done the way I thought I wanted. And then I turned it into a PDF. And then I went to upload it. Which, when I uploaded it, it said I had an error. So I went back and tried to fix the error, turned it into a new PDF and uploaded it again. Now it said I had three errors. So again I did it all over again. And just saying I did it over again seems easy right? No. Doing it over again took an hour each time. I spent so much time uploading and reuploading this thing. Then I ordered a proof. The proof came in the mail three days later.
     Then, I wasn't happy with the proof. Some of the page numbers were touching the last lines on the pages. The don't was too big. The margins were too small. There were just things that I could have lived with but that I wanted to look professional. So I needed to change them.
     So I went to change them in the indesign document. But some of the things weren't working. So then I decided to just start all over again. It was a little frustrating.
     But alas, I got it turned into a PDF, uploaded it, got the proof, approved the proof, and it is now available on amazon for paperback. After all that work, it is now available.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1500714186/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_twi_2?qid=1408242528&sr=8-1

You are welcome. I hope at least some of you buy it. And if you do, thank you.