Skip to main content

Last Skies First Lines

 Last Skies needed to start with a sizzle.


I recently published my second exposition, Last Skies, on my writing website. When drafting the narrative outline, I decided to put special emphasis on the first sentence(s) of the story. Therefore, I came up with 10 different opening lines to capture the intrigue of the Last Skies world I wanted to portray right off the bat. I've included them, unabridged, below.


(Ten Opening Lines)

  1. The hardest part of being a gravi-magnus is keeping the world from falling.

  2. It was a routine day for Protagonist; keeping the world from falling.

  3. An affinity for gravity is no guarantee against the cruel reality that all things fall in the end.

  4. All things fall, all things collapse in the end; a gravi-magnus’s role is to keep the falling for another day.

  5. Being the last gravi-magnus came with its consolations; keeping the world from falling was not one of them.

  6. To what did the tide-masters or the fire-stokers gain; it was the gravi-magnus that wore the crown and the terrible burden that lay with it.

  7. Being the last gravi-magnus was of two hands; one was great honor, the other a great burden.  It was hard to say which hand lay heavier upon Protagonist’s head.

  8. Protagonist strained, the hidden workings of the genetic legacy of being the last gravi-magnus spilling out towards the reactors to keep the world from falling.  He collapsed, having kept the world in the sky for another day.  Just like every day.

  9. Gravity is a cold tyrant; all things must at last fall it says.  To which Protagonist, the last gravi-magnust replied, “not today”.

  10. Of the four fundamental force genetic accidents, the gravi-magnuses were the most mysterious and most powerful.  It was perhaps good then, that Protagonist was the last of them.


The final version, the first paragraph of Last Skies, ended up as this:

Gravity reigns with dispassionate tyranny.  It speaks in all times and places the words of inevitability.  “All things, in the end, must fall.”  To which Natus, the last Gravimagnus, offers a reply.  “Not today.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Creative Tool: Idea Mutation

It's mutating out of control!   Here is another wild method of improving the creativity of ideas through the process of introducing random 'mutations'.  I call it Idea Mutation. Method: Start with an idea.  Add it to a circle on the far left side of a piece of paper.  That is round 1. Make two branches off the first idea.  Each branch has a new circle.  That is round 2. For each branch, roll a 10-sided dice and select the 'mutation' from the table below. For each branch, create a 'mutated' idea incorporating that branch's mutation. Continue branching and mutation ideas for subsequent rounds (3, 4, etc.). Modifications: Include different mutations (ex. Add Thrill, More Collaborative, Clearer, etc.) Add null mutation (no changes for certain branches) Change probability of mutations (same mutation for more than one number) Examples:
Post a Comment
Read more

Creative Tool: Idea Bracket

Let the Best Idea Win. How to generate great ideas?  Why not create an Idea Bracket ?  It is analogous to a sports league play-off.  Ideas are pitted against each other, with the winning idea moving on to the next round.  The last idea standing is the winner. I do have a few additional rules.  The Three M's : Modify, Merge, and Markup.  These rules allow for both idea modification and saving sub-winner ideas. Simple enough, right?  Let's try it out on some examples. Story Beginning Location Floating City and Haunted Graveyard merged into Floating Graveyard Screaming Wastelands modified into Blasted Wastelands Winner was Floating Graveyard and Sundered Titan merged into Floating Graveyard of Titans Artistic Inspiration Shack Brainstorming and Review Idea/Notes merged to Shack Review Ideas TCG View modified to TCG Mashup Shack Review Ideas marked for later Monster App and Walk and Song merged to Walk and Song with Monster App Priming Winner was T...
Post a Comment
Read more

Comics from Old Jokes 4: Mixed Horse Metaphors

 
Post a Comment
Read more