Thursday, July 25, 2013

On Writing - Stephen King and First Sentences

A great piece by Stephen King about that all important first sentence of your story

When I'm writing that first sentence it's usually just an idea that gets me into the story and many times that first sentence will be deleted because it no longer fits with what comes after.  I remember when I first started writing in a flash critique group.  For one story I wrote a gentleman told me I had three great starter sentences for my story, then he added, now pick one and run with it. :)  I try not to worry too much about that first sentence until the first draft is done, then I'll probably wind up changing it and reworking it about fifty times before I'm happy with it.  On occasion though that first sentence is just spot on perfect and the story that follows comes fairly easy.

A big thank you to Michael Bracken for the link!

2 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

The first sentence for me often drives what comes after, but there are frequent changes to it.

sandra seamans said...

Exactly, because you never know where a story will take you :)