"Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice."

I always remembered that one as a good example (One Hundred Years of Solitude), because it first takes you a quarter of the book to get to the afternoon with the ice, and then three quarters before you get to the firing sqaud scene. By then you're well and trully hooked!

James, Dawn, glad you like my first line. Hopefully you'll be able to read the rest of it soon!

Katie - as an expert - especially pleased that you like it!

But I think the all-time classic has to be:

It was the best of times. It wasthe worst of times.

You just can't not read on, can you...

Dee.

<Added>

Er... Tale of Two Cities... in case anyone has been on the planet Zog for the last 150 years...

;)

The match scratched noisily across the rusted metal of the corrugated iron shed, fizzled, then burst into a spluttering pool of light, the harsh sound and sudden
brilliance alike strangely alien in the stillness of the desert night.

The first line from The Guns Of Narvarone by Alistair MacLean

I confess, I've never read Tale of Two Cities, am I missing anything?

Steven, what do you think of Richard Laymon?

Dawn,

Dawn,

Are you missing anything? Expect a legion of Dicken's obsessive's hammering at your door within the hour. Read all of Dicken's work, he is amazingly fresh for a dead writer. I meant that to sound better than it did lol
I'm reading Bleak House @ the moment and refuse to belief what I'm reading, words cannot be this good. There will never be an english writer that comes so close to his level of genius.

As for Richard Laymon, he is the only horror author that genuinely scares me. I read his short story Invitation To Murder and now refuse to go anywhere near alleys. I love his writing, he takes the most ordinary thing and turns it into pure horror. Shame he's dead He was bloody good.

Steven

Hello,

I have read Dicken’s work, Great Expectations, David Copperfield, The Pickwick Papers, etc, but not Tale of Two Cities. (Shame on me).

I read Richard Laymon No Sanctuary, because I liked the story concept. He is a great story teller, every word counts, less is more with him, good person to learn how to write from, don’t you think?

It is a shame he died, it's a shame when anyone dies. Ah.

I promise to read Tale of Two Cities..one day….
Dawn,

Song titles are often good for an opening line, so long as you change a word or two to avoid copyright problems. I’m not a fan of Country and Western music but they do seem to have a rich vein of weird and wonderful titles. My favourite is:

If you can’t live without me, why aren’t you dead?

ee.

Hi, I'm happily in possesion of 34 of Ricard Laymon's novels. All the readily available ones. I think that with Laymon, his writing is so accesible and you get so easily immersed in it, that it seems quite easy to write in that style. Im sure it would be terribly difficult to write in a similar style, though to attempt a similar style would be to suppress what natural voice you have.
Of his works, my favourites are

Body Rides,
In the Dark
Stake
Darkness Tell Us
Night in the Lonesome October.

I wouldn't say his prose was brilliant, but easy to read and full of scenarios you'd never even thought of? Definately.


Darryl

I’m a firm believer that it is not the story that matters, but how you tell it.

Richard Laymon tells a good story. I’m not a horror fan so it must be how he tells it.

It would be impossible for me to copy another writer, too much thought no imagination. But I can learn how good story tellers use five words instead of ten, to good effect and still get their point across. All stories need suspense of some kind, the reader must want to know what is happening on the next page. The best way to learn how to write is to read.

Shall we start the Richard Laymon fan club?

Dawn,

Hi,

There is an extensive message board full of comments and such by Laymon fans world wide. If you do a google search under 'ezboard' & 'richard laymon', I'm sure you'll find it.

Darryl

A first line could be likened to a match lighting a fire in the imagination of both author and reader - firstly, inspiring the author to write, and then, inspiring the reader to read.

The recent WW exercise of the Random Line Generator, where the first line led to so many different stories, illustrates how a line can easily inspire a whole story.

I don't chuck a book aside if the first line doesn't grab me – if a publisher has given it the time of day, it's usually worth persevering with.

But I do have a couple of fave first lines from books I loved:

"I saw an arm fall off a man once," said Kate. (Helen Dunmore, 'A Spell Of Winter'.)

My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name Susie. (Alice Sebold, 'The Lovely Bones'.)

I prefer first lines to be short and snappy or put me in the middle of the action. Something is happening and you want to know more.

One of the best openings that I can remember is from William Boyd.

My first act upon entering the world was to kill my mother

.