Last week’s challenge: “1667.”
Once again, time to write just the opening line to a new story.
No more than 15 words long.
Plop your opening line in the comment section below. Only one entry, please.
Then, the following week, it will be the task of other writers to pick one opening line that they will use in a new piece of flash fiction.
If you write the line that is most chosen by other authors, I’ll send you a signed physical copy of my new writing book, The Kick-Ass Writer. I’m not doing the picking, so your goal is to write a line that excites other writers enough for them to write a story using that opening line.
Tricky? Could be.
So, get to writing.
You’ve got one week — due by Friday, November 15th, noon EST.
(I’ll send the physical book and pay for shipping if you’re in the United States. Outside the country, you’ll have to front the shipping, I’m afraid, or be okay with an e-book copy.)
Robin says:
From the first glimpse, Chuck knew this woman was going to get him into trouble.
November 9, 2013 — 5:00 AM
e m bahnsen says:
From the first glimpse, Chuck knew this woman was going to get him into trouble. It was the wrong time and the wrong place, but he found the woman who he wanted to have his babies.
November 9, 2013 — 12:54 PM
queenbee3645 says:
,Roy Burns liked selling weed, acid and 714s to the guys at work
November 9, 2013 — 5:08 AM
AKjeldsen says:
People say you learn a lot about yourself the first time you kill someone. I think you learn more the second time.
November 9, 2013 — 5:18 AM
vlazabal6981 says:
This is awesomeness
November 9, 2013 — 9:49 PM
Menopausal Miss says:
Brilliant – I love it
November 10, 2013 — 7:48 AM
gabidaniels says:
This!
November 10, 2013 — 9:15 PM
M.R. Dorough says:
Dang, more than 15 words. I wanted to use it.
November 15, 2013 — 12:27 PM
Rebecca B. says:
I wish this was 15 words somehow because I totally wanted to use this one!
November 18, 2013 — 2:21 PM
CCalhoun says:
The Autumn mist obscured the chasm, and muffled the screams of the creatures trapped within.
November 9, 2013 — 6:15 AM
Malcolm Christiansen (@DrShenanigans) says:
Security around the Fat Dild Museum of Neo Detroit was impenetrable – or so they thought.
November 9, 2013 — 6:26 AM
murgatroid98 says:
“It doesn’t mean death,” I told her.
November 9, 2013 — 7:00 AM
awkwardtreed says:
Hyde’s life was just a series of opportunities and bad decisions.
November 9, 2013 — 7:37 AM
Michael Desing says:
“Leave it alone,” the doctor said, “don’t touch.” But after three days, he squeezed it.
November 9, 2013 — 8:02 AM
Donna Casey says:
“Grab the baby.” Jovell yelled. They worked tgether saving the human babies from the alconator.
November 9, 2013 — 9:15 AM
Jemima Pett says:
Anyone who could remember the time before the second 9/11 was safely behind bars.
I’m cheating this week, as the story I want to write on the 15th begins: Frances woke up on the morning of her 100th birthday. So I’m writing that, and it will be live on my blog on the 15th, while I’ll be off celebrating it with her children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren. So I’m giving you a different first line as above.
November 9, 2013 — 9:35 AM
Josh Loomis says:
I’m looking at the bloody knife when I hear beyond the door: “Open up, police!”
November 9, 2013 — 10:07 AM
Liz says:
She floated back into consciousness, the events of last nights escapades unfolding in her memory.
November 9, 2013 — 10:08 AM
erincopland says:
I said, “Don’t, Lisey, don’t goddammit,” but Lisey wasn’t listening and Charles was already dead.
November 9, 2013 — 10:44 AM
Stephanie Belser says:
I couldn’t think of a good explanation for the bloody corpse in my bathtub.
November 9, 2013 — 10:45 AM
chaddywest says:
When Greg had died, when that quick lump of led had exploded his heart, turned his T4 vertebrae into confetti, and he’d opened his eyes in that other world, he hadn’t expected he might face death again, or that there’d be so much damned corn in the afterlife.
November 9, 2013 — 11:40 AM
chaddywest says:
Oops… not fifteen words… let me try that again.
November 9, 2013 — 11:43 AM
chaddywest says:
Greg believed the worst thing about the after life was the corn, and the murder.
November 9, 2013 — 11:45 AM
CML says:
Charlie was 32 when his third set of teeth started to push their way in.
November 9, 2013 — 12:00 PM
Autumn Marie says:
Stevie Jennings approaches her baby blue Chevy Cavalier, and says to me, “This is Ivan. He’s undergoing a mid-life crisis at the moment. So be gentle, ‘K?”.
November 9, 2013 — 12:06 PM
Mozette says:
It doesn’t seem all that impressive this one… but I’m gonna use this one… I think it’s got something hiding behind that mid-life crisis of Ivan’s we should be wary of – very wary of… 😀
November 15, 2013 — 8:04 PM
authordjdavis says:
The fell photonic fuckery machine was a monumental masterpiece, Phineas Finagle mused.
November 9, 2013 — 12:16 PM
Julia says:
Dani emerged from the tattoo shop with a single rose painted atop her fading scar.
November 9, 2013 — 12:54 PM
Brit says:
When the day finally came, onlookers gathered with an air of inextricable bitterness and relief as hundreds of children, forming lines based on their age, stood in the shadow of the great ship.
November 9, 2013 — 1:25 PM
Brit says:
I got really excited and didn’t read the whole post. Sigh.
November 9, 2013 — 1:28 PM
bendodge says:
The critics loved her. The crowd just wanted her head.
November 9, 2013 — 1:48 PM
Wendy Christopher says:
So… guess I need a wedding dress now. Shit. How the hell did this happen?
November 9, 2013 — 1:49 PM
angel011 says:
The ficus is plotting to kill me.
November 9, 2013 — 2:14 PM
Menopausal Miss says:
LOL!
November 10, 2013 — 7:53 AM
rtmcclung says:
Is she had it to do all over again, she’d do it all over again.
November 9, 2013 — 2:15 PM
Brennan says:
The sun shone down as it always had, and for a moment, everything was perfect.
November 9, 2013 — 3:58 PM
janeishly says:
It was a dark and stormy night.
November 9, 2013 — 4:09 PM
Rebecca B. says:
For some reason I don’t think this is original …
November 9, 2013 — 9:04 PM
Gabe K (@Auguris) says:
Without the key in my hand, they can’t power the device. They can’t go home.
November 9, 2013 — 4:27 PM
Hana Frank says:
The alien’s face creased with joy as she explored the tiny apartment.
November 9, 2013 — 5:28 PM
Shane D. Keene says:
Nikki and Val came to kill each other but they ended up killing Kane instead.
November 9, 2013 — 5:35 PM
Dawn says:
She never did come back.
November 9, 2013 — 6:39 PM
mark stenbo says:
Just fifteen words into the presentation her explanation became a documented lie.
November 9, 2013 — 7:36 PM
Serena says:
“Don’t cry dear,” a gentle hand wiped away the tears . “It was for the best.”
November 9, 2013 — 7:43 PM
Rebecca B. says:
It wasn’t just that he raped me, but that years later he didn’t recognize me.
November 9, 2013 — 9:23 PM
vlazabal6981 says:
Who would have thought waking up dead would be so much work?
November 9, 2013 — 9:51 PM
Doreen Queen says:
I like this one!
November 17, 2013 — 9:54 AM
M.A. says:
Santa Claus wouldn’t give me a reach-around, so I stabbed him in the eye.
November 9, 2013 — 10:29 PM
David Gearing says:
If dying were easy, you’d be doing it instead of me.
November 9, 2013 — 11:00 PM
electronink says:
At least it wasn’t on fire like before, but *this* time, it knew his name.
November 9, 2013 — 11:24 PM
Cranium Rinse says:
“Please remember to report all puncture wounds; nano-bots can usurp your free will.”
November 9, 2013 — 11:48 PM
Saxon Kennedy says:
“Why’d you kill your mommy?”
The boy beckoned to the corner, “SHE told me to.”
November 10, 2013 — 12:46 AM
Keith Shoop says:
Unintended consequences: it’s what you get doing evil to fight evil. Could of been worse.
November 10, 2013 — 3:39 AM
feralbulb says:
You will not see your reflection in that mirror, only shadows of your former self.
November 10, 2013 — 4:28 AM
garyp0705 says:
Bang.
November 10, 2013 — 4:47 AM
decayingorbits says:
I could feel the vibrations of the guillotine blade as it plummeted towards my neck, and with a thud I found myself in my study, drinking tea.
November 10, 2013 — 6:36 AM
decayingorbits says:
15-word limit. Oh yes, now I remember.
November 11, 2013 — 7:52 AM
anninyn says:
The silvery deer stared at me, and I stared back at it.
November 10, 2013 — 8:40 AM
terribleminds says:
FYI: A great many of you have utterly ignored the 15-word limitation to this challenge. Be advised.
Also: hey, maybe proofread your entries before you actually enter them. That’s a pro-tip from me to you.
November 10, 2013 — 10:13 AM
John Geraci says:
I’ve brought souls back six hours after they died. Ackryod’s been dead two days.
November 10, 2013 — 10:15 AM
Charlie Boucher says:
There was silence. Then whistling. Then the pitter patter of blood dripping on parquet floor.
November 10, 2013 — 10:41 AM
Bart says:
“She has a face like a smashed crab,” he said. “You should date her.”
November 10, 2013 — 11:15 AM
Sean Tadsen says:
He should have known better. All the dangerous books had locks. This one had four.
November 10, 2013 — 11:26 AM