| General Fiction posted September 15, 2024 |
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Opening paragraph
The Necromancer
by Patrick Bernardy
Opening Line Contest Winner
The author has placed a warning on this post for violence.
I stole away with Mademoiselle Eléonore's head just after the guillotine blade fell. I replaced it in the drop bucket with a half-rotten cantaloupe and covered it with a linen handkerchief. I then slid her head into the vegetable basket at my feet. Well practiced, the sleight of hand took no more than two seconds and was performed with an illusionniste's nonchalance. I looked around. No one seemed to have noticed. Eléonore may have, but I wasn't sure. I hadn't had a chance to ask her yet.
I stole away with Mademoiselle Eléonore's head just after the guillotine blade fell. I replaced it in the drop bucket with a half-rotten cantaloupe and covered it with a linen handkerchief. I then slid her head into the vegetable basket at my feet. Well practiced, the sleight of hand took no more than two seconds and was performed with an illusionniste's nonchalance. I looked around. No one seemed to have noticed. Eléonore may have, but I wasn't sure. I hadn't had a chance to ask her yet.
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Writing Prompt The first sentence of your story should entice your reader to keep reading. There needs to be a hook to reel them in. It could start *in media res* (in the middle of the action/plot) or a mysterious phrasing that intrigues the reader. Ex: As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin. (Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka) Ex: It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. (1984 by George Orwell) Compare this to: The alarm went off and I got out of bed. Which story would you rather read based on the first sentence? ****Write an opening paragraph to a story, with a 'hook' in the first sentence. The intrigue/action can continue making the whole paragraph a hook, but the punch should be in the first sentence. ****Prose only, one paragraph, not a whole story (this isn't a flash) just an opening paragraph. Any genre. Fiction or Nonfiction. |
Opening Line Contest Winner |
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