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user-inactivated · 3819 days ago · link · · parent · post: Can you come up with the first line of a novel/story?
That's a good book and a decent first sentence in my opinion. Couple things, though. One, that sentence is almost too famous -- a lot of people know it but not the book. Two, it set the standard for the stuff I was talking about above. If you can't beat that, don't even try, because you're just riffing. Three, it's got some depth and -- most importantly in my opinion -- it establishes the passage of time. Tells the reader a lot of things about the character's life that "John did something weird and I, the author, am temporarily passing it off as completely normal" doesn't. I'm not a fan of the ol' clocks striking 13, either, in case you were going to ask. It's much more effective on a reread.