This one is pretty simple:
Write an opening sentence.
Post it in the comments below.
Any genre will do, really, though versatility has value.
The sentence should be on the shorter side. Let’s say, mmm, no more than 25 words. Some things to avoid, since sometimes folks fall into these traps: avoid blood, death, dead people, kids being hurt, and so forth. Think original. Conceive of a sentence that, when crafted right, is a strong hook. The kind that makes people want to read further. It makes them want to know more. Compelling and maddening in equal measure.
By next Friday, I will pick between five and ten I really like, and I’ll pop them into next week’s challenge, and you guys can choose one of those I pick to serve as the opening sentence to a new piece of flash fiction.
Today, no story necessary, though.
Just an opening line.
Due by next Friday, 2/26, noon EST.
Mozette says:
Timing is everything when it comes to planning your own death – this time I’m taking somebody with me.
February 19, 2016 — 6:32 PM
asheley says:
I like this sentence. ALOT.
February 19, 2016 — 7:53 PM
Peggy Rothschild says:
Steam rose from the charred earth, mixing with wisps of smoke from the still-smoldering trees.
February 19, 2016 — 6:33 PM
Boring And Unoriginal says:
My novel sat on the book stores shelf. Where my name should be, it said Louis Martin, my best friend.
February 19, 2016 — 6:41 PM
Diedra Black says:
Oh yeah! This reminds me of that 70’s film, Phantom of the Paradise.
February 20, 2016 — 9:21 AM
Glen Donaldson says:
Phantom of the Paradise (1974) – classic early Brian De Palma film.
February 20, 2016 — 7:33 PM
Lia says:
It was never supposed to be like this.
February 19, 2016 — 7:01 PM
Gene Hilgreen says:
A perverse crack rang out interrupting the rhythmic cadence of his finely tuned skis as they carved through the soft powder on Northstar.
February 19, 2016 — 7:01 PM
Lisa Walpole Finch says:
Her face is as ugly as her disposition and when I give her the news, well, there’s no telling what she’ll do.
February 19, 2016 — 7:02 PM
Berti Walker says:
It was Hadeon’s lie that saved the world.
February 19, 2016 — 7:14 PM
boundbeautifunk says:
<3
February 20, 2016 — 8:33 AM
albaspire says:
It is said that poor Cassandra was cursed to be ignored. No matter how important, how urgent her visions, if the warning came from Cassandra’s lips it was ignored.
February 19, 2016 — 7:26 PM
addy says:
so she decided to invest in the stock market…..
sorry she’s a great character to work with. for both serious and comiedic stories.
love the opening
February 22, 2016 — 6:37 AM
Tsara Shelton says:
They were both lost in equal measure; discovering a father in common and the brutal lies that had built their lives, lives that unveiled the truth and brought these powerful men together, offered no map or understanding.
February 19, 2016 — 7:29 PM
asheley says:
She just had to open that window, fresh air blowing through the trees, dappled light that danced through sunlit clouds, and that sweet smell of death that just wafted gently on the breeze.
February 19, 2016 — 7:52 PM
curleyqueue says:
The sun ducked behind the mountain, tears tightened her throat, and she knew the worst was over.
February 19, 2016 — 8:06 PM
Glen Donaldson says:
Pure P.I.M. – poetry in motion.
February 19, 2016 — 11:50 PM
Paula M Carlson (@BKLYNPaula) says:
The three souls look like they’ve been distributed via barrel of monkeys style around the room with smattering of glitter and a few beer cans.
February 19, 2016 — 8:18 PM
violetinc says:
Two men, three receivers, several bright lights, and one gigantic bomb- what could possibly go wrong?
February 19, 2016 — 8:27 PM
Effy J. Roan says:
Lakeerae made herself as small as possible, trying to hide her whole frame in the shadowy depression between two gnarled old trees.
February 19, 2016 — 8:37 PM
Glen Donaldson says:
This one gets the ‘professional author sounding’ stamp of approval.
February 20, 2016 — 12:05 AM
Diedra Black says:
Agreed. A lovely sentence.
February 20, 2016 — 9:23 AM
Botanist says:
It was barely eight in the morning, and Professor Charles Ainsley Hawthorne was already having a bad day.
February 19, 2016 — 9:00 PM
Michelle says:
It was a novice mistake, really. I allowed myself to be distracted for the briefest of moments, causing my shielding to ripple, the smallest of gaps to appear for a heartbeat.
February 19, 2016 — 9:06 PM
timothyscottbennett says:
Brother Elswick was good at his job, and he knew a great many things, but he had no idea at all what he should do with those toes.
February 19, 2016 — 9:47 PM
Glen Donaldson says:
And the award for best character name goes to.. Brother Elswick.
February 22, 2016 — 2:53 AM
J.A. Haigh says:
My eldest boy, Matteo looked past me to the mess wedged in the branches of the Jacaranda tree.
“I’ll get the knife.” He said, wearily.
February 19, 2016 — 10:00 PM
Mariah Avix says:
I slapped the big red button, either the world would end or it wouldn’t, both options were better than my day.
February 19, 2016 — 10:13 PM
ellaapollodorus says:
I’ve had a few days like that this week. Love that sentence!
February 20, 2016 — 3:53 AM
Roberta says:
I see a plot point from Dr. Who…
February 21, 2016 — 1:29 AM
Sam Brady says:
The bald man grinned and capered madly in the alley.
February 19, 2016 — 10:21 PM
danphalen says:
Being arm decoration to a wasted movie queen has a certain advantage: no one gives you a second look.
February 19, 2016 — 10:23 PM
nanochele says:
Something was under Evelyn’s skin.
February 19, 2016 — 10:32 PM
Dallas Taylor says:
I shouldn’t have done that.
February 19, 2016 — 10:47 PM
mm719 says:
lol, nice.
February 20, 2016 — 2:59 AM
Michele Tracy Berger says:
Hi all, I’m pretty excited as I have never entered a challenge like this before. Here is my sentence:
You didn’t steal from The Fin Man. Everyone knew that.
February 19, 2016 — 10:55 PM
StarNinja says:
The Fin Man! Probably because he’s Finnish, but my mind immediately went to Merman Mafia Boss.
“Tonight ya sleep wit da fishes.”
February 21, 2016 — 6:55 PM
Tsara Shelton says:
I must tell you the story you’re not brave enough to hear quickly, before that door opens and they discover the stairs.
[My first sentence was too long. Sorry about that!]
February 19, 2016 — 10:55 PM
Lani says:
I love this!
February 20, 2016 — 8:54 AM
StarNinja says:
This one leaves me wanting more!
February 21, 2016 — 1:18 PM
Pitboss14 says:
Every time Hoppy got the little twitch going with his elbow we knew his mom was going to end up taking the pipe to him.
February 19, 2016 — 10:58 PM
David Antrobus says:
With everything that came before, the jagged stuff and the sorrow, it was quite literally write or fade. Write. Or ebb from it all.
February 19, 2016 — 11:00 PM
amblyopia says:
All I see from here is an empty El Jimador bottle, half a pinkie finger in a shot glass, and a big-ass stack of twenties.
February 19, 2016 — 11:17 PM
Cheryl M. says:
The threadbare robes dragged on the stone floor.
February 19, 2016 — 11:38 PM
J. Parrish Lewis says:
There were always going to be days like this, days that stumbled onward, rough and drunken, and ending with the discovery of a dismal ball of lint in a bellybutton, thereafter cast aside into the shower water, only to slip down lost into the drain.
February 19, 2016 — 11:46 PM
Leslie Aguillard says:
That hunk of wood he put in the garage years ago because it might come in handy was in his shaking hand.
February 20, 2016 — 12:09 AM
Bill Dezell (@BillTheScribe) says:
Hollywood was, and probably always will be, flypaper.
February 20, 2016 — 1:21 AM
Zach J. Payne says:
“So,” my English teacher towered over me, a shadow falling over her face. “Have you decided your destiny?”
February 20, 2016 — 1:55 AM
Natalie says:
Dropping the ball was becoming a habit.
February 20, 2016 — 1:57 AM
mm719 says:
cool
February 20, 2016 — 3:00 AM
Marina Richards says:
I ran over him, backed up, did it again.
February 20, 2016 — 2:16 AM
allthenumbers says:
Ophelia was eight when she was stolen for the second time.
February 20, 2016 — 3:00 AM
Glen Donaldson says:
That picture on your Gravatar site – puts ‘highly suggestive’ on the map.
February 20, 2016 — 3:33 AM
Danzier says:
“The river is one hundred and two feet deep here,” Henry drawled, “and the rocks we pull up are sunburned.”
February 20, 2016 — 3:29 AM
Nels Wadycki says:
I’m not sure what sunburned rocks are, but I’m intrigued.
February 20, 2016 — 6:31 AM
ellaapollodorus says:
The simian and the invertebrate knew they must always hide their love.
February 20, 2016 — 3:52 AM
Vicki says:
Parents like to keep secrets.
February 20, 2016 — 3:54 AM
Katherine Hetzel says:
“That really won’t help.”
February 20, 2016 — 5:55 AM
jadefalcon14 says:
As if I didn’t have enough to worry about already.
February 20, 2016 — 6:25 AM
Nels Wadycki says:
Kiara shimmied under the bed, but the random hole which transported her when it was least convenient did not appear, forcing her to endure the awful noises that accompanied her brother’s copulation.
February 20, 2016 — 6:30 AM
Glen Donaldson says:
Mental pictures pinging everywhere!
February 20, 2016 — 6:37 AM
Glen Donaldson says:
The self-described Wellness Warrior who claimed to be ‘thriving with cancer’ for seven years finally passed away – but not as you might think.
February 20, 2016 — 7:06 AM
Pavowski says:
I detect the skeptical bent within this beginning.
February 20, 2016 — 8:57 AM
Glen Donaldson says:
I can disguise it but I can’t completely hide it Pav.
February 20, 2016 — 7:14 PM
Ethan Asplin says:
Ever since the apocalypse hit in high school she’d been told she couldn’t be a bounty hunter, but she always told them, “Screw you.”
February 20, 2016 — 7:10 AM
Karen Angelico says:
As the door closed slowly, the last wafts of car fumes shut away from the sterile hallway, he knew he had made a terrible mistake.
February 20, 2016 — 7:30 AM
Alix Rendell says:
For the first time since his law-enforcement career ended spectacularly a decade ago, Thor Skovsgård was in cuffs and leg-irons again.
February 20, 2016 — 8:17 AM
Cameryn says:
As soon as I jumped off the roof, a seagull hit me in the face.
February 20, 2016 — 8:21 AM
Pavowski says:
I was standing in the produce aisle next to a gorgeous woman in dark sunglasses when the voices started up.
February 20, 2016 — 8:56 AM
Lisa says:
Obviously, he was dead.
February 20, 2016 — 9:02 AM
Ellen M. Gregg says:
Even hours after the shot, she swore she could feel colors.
February 20, 2016 — 9:10 AM