I often get stuck finding my first sentence. I can have a clear vision of the story, the characters, the setting but until I have the right first sentence I can’t start.
It seems logical but I expect there are writers who can start in the middle. I envy them. If I get the first sentence quickly the whole story will come fast. If not, I can sit on it for weeks.
The first sentence I wrote for Cassandra was: The morning my Cassandra was born, the clouds were like thickened cream.
I remember where I was sitting when I wrote it. I was in my sunroom looking, as you might imagine, at clouds.
I quite like comparing clouds to cream. I might do it again. I can because that first sentence did not end up in the final published version of Cassandra. That whole first chapter was dumped. So it goes.
First sentences. I am trying to find one at the moment. The proof is in the picture!
One thought on “The tyranny of the first sentence”