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#1 |
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No Time For Chitchat, Kemosabe.
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: San Antonio, TX
Posts: 3,831
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SciFi/Fantasy First Line Game
Rules: Write one sentence that will grab your audience and propel them to the next whilst making this very, very obvious that we are reading a work of scifi or fantasy. Please, no run-on sentences or overly verbose adjectives.
a.k.a. "Grigor Samsa woke up to discover that he had turned into a cockroach." My entry: "When the aliens first landed, they traded apocalyptic bombs with Iceland for skrimshander carvings and wool." |
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#2 |
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It's hard being green
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: trapped between my ears
Posts: 12,338
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Pfelp stuck a tentacle up his left nostril and bleemed at the expressions on the faces of his students as the tip appeared in his central earafice.
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"Hey, Steve, just because you broke into Xerox's store before I did and took the TV doesn't mean I can't go in later and steal the stereo." -- Bill Gates, Mac Week, March 14, 1989 Stories of Strength My listing in the Absolute Write Library. Support the Author Advocate Defense Fund ![]() |
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#3 |
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Cheers
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,859
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Without his trusty atomic blaster, Starman Hamil resorted to throwing unripe figs at the Xenaplorian horde.
Last edited by beezle; 11-01-2006 at 02:17 AM. |
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#4 |
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Survivor
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 12,960
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There once was a man who lived his life as men live their lives, going daily to and fro from places he thought were important, without a single care or even the faintest hint that his planet and everyone on it had already triggered a time bomb that would destroy it, and everything else ever born or created in all the galaxy.
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![]() Hard Hobbit to Break: A hobbit from the Shire, lost in Los Angeles. ![]() Big Fat Loser Diet: My weight loss journal. Website a Week: A challenge to design a new website every week. DavidWClary.com: Keep up with all the other DWC sites here |
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#5 |
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Barbershoppin' harmony whore
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Will sing with anyone, anywhere, anytime.
Posts: 2,234
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"Eggshells," said Skreet, looking at the reptilian form in front of him, "you look great, honey."
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http://barbershopmusiclisting.wordpress.com/ |
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#6 |
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Unspeakable
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: London
Posts: 530
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Of course, dying for the third time was easier.
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#7 |
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No Time For Chitchat, Kemosabe.
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: San Antonio, TX
Posts: 3,831
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dclary, you forgot the rules: NO RUN-ON SENTENCES!
Euan H. is in the lead, methinks. I'll try again later. |
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#8 |
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the living dead
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 594
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What John remembered most about being dead was the odd yellowish quality of the light around him.
Rabe... |
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#9 |
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Lost in the Fog
P&CE Ombudsman/Arbiter/Thingamajobbie
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: East O' The Sun & West O' The Moon
Posts: 11,846
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This sorcerer gig isn't all it's cracked up to be, Wilson thought as the demon started sucking the marrow out of his left arm.
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#10 |
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I want to write what I want to write
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: The mud hole in the middle of Margins
Posts: 1,061
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Blinded by the light and gagging on the stench Smith took the first timid steps on a new world.
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#11 |
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Company Man
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 6,210
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I was close enough to see the look of surprise on Blackmane's face, and believe me, anything beyond hungry is difficult to recognize on a dragon.
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"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." -- Albert Einstein |
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#12 |
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Unspeakable
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: London
Posts: 530
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I vote for MattW and rugcat so far.
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#13 |
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Planet Wookie techno geek
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Rodents Of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist.
Posts: 700
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I just submitted this to the "writing novels" forum under a thread titled "hook me with the first 20 words" (or something to that effect). It's not a single sentence, but it is 20 words.
The sonogram operator flipped a switch. "And here's the baby's heartbeat..." The sound of morse code filled the room. S.O.S.
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I don't know. Fly casual. Last edited by greglondon; 11-01-2006 at 08:07 AM. |
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#14 |
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Unspeakable
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: London
Posts: 530
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I also vote for greglondon. Wow.
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#15 | |
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Survivor
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 12,960
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Quote:
__________________
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![]() Hard Hobbit to Break: A hobbit from the Shire, lost in Los Angeles. ![]() Big Fat Loser Diet: My weight loss journal. Website a Week: A challenge to design a new website every week. DavidWClary.com: Keep up with all the other DWC sites here |
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#16 |
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Don't fix what ain't broke.
AW Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Bend, Ore
Posts: 6,993
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I will agree with dclary, that the sentence just barely qualifies as a non-run-on sentence. But just.
Without all the modifiers, this is the sentence: "A man lived without a hint that his planet had triggered a bomb that would destroy everything in the galaxy.But I like the extras. Now, am I hooked enough to read further? Yeah. If there wasn't anything pressing on my schedule, I would.
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~ Vita Brevis, Ars Longa ~ "There is a technical, literary term for those who mistake the opinions and beliefs of characters in a novel for those of the author. The term is 'idiot.'" —Larry Niven, quoted by S. M. Stirling. SaraP advises to just go back and ass it in. |
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#17 |
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Rep Point Whore
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Dracut, Massachusetts
Posts: 407
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I had a plan to save my city; I'd hijack a UFO -- they had to be time machines with future humans at the controls; who else would be so interested in us?
(How's that for using punctuation to turn 3 sentences into 1?) |
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#18 |
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www.justinthorne.com
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: In the shadows
Posts: 199
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Female Gribtaks menstrate every third day - that's a lot of PMS in a woman!
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http://www.justinthorne.com |
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#19 | |
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Company Man
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 6,210
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Quote:
I thought yours wins for pure brevity.
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"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." -- Albert Einstein |
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#20 | ||
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Board Visitor
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 2,751
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Quote:
Quote:
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#21 |
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Swordsman
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Scotland
Posts: 1,492
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Cold steel bit dragon flesh.
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(Newly Agented but unpublished author. The usual caveats apply.) German Longsword in a nutshell: "I'd shake your hand... but I'm not sure where it landed." |
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#22 |
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It's hard being green
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: trapped between my ears
Posts: 12,338
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I agree with Peter about dclary's line. Without the modifiers, the reveal at the end lacks punch. I think it needs that setup; that moment or two of introduction to the normalcy of his character's life before hitting us with the 'bomb', pun intended.
I can't pick a clear leader so far, but I quite dig Matt's and BardSkye's.
__________________
"Hey, Steve, just because you broke into Xerox's store before I did and took the TV doesn't mean I can't go in later and steal the stereo." -- Bill Gates, Mac Week, March 14, 1989 Stories of Strength My listing in the Absolute Write Library. Support the Author Advocate Defense Fund ![]() |
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#23 |
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No Time For Chitchat, Kemosabe.
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: San Antonio, TX
Posts: 3,831
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"I went to the bar looking for other men like me, but I suspected something was wrong when the front door was only eight inches high."
Hey, what's with all this multiple voting!? Oh, well. |
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#24 |
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www.justinthorne.com
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: In the shadows
Posts: 199
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Desfrit had already killed twelve of his offspring; only four hundred to go.
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http://www.justinthorne.com |
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#25 |
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Survivor
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 12,960
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As the sun rose over the yellow mucus cactus plants of Kelso Alpha IV, I adjusted myself and got ready to finish driving the sheffelherd into town.
__________________
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![]() Hard Hobbit to Break: A hobbit from the Shire, lost in Los Angeles. ![]() Big Fat Loser Diet: My weight loss journal. Website a Week: A challenge to design a new website every week. DavidWClary.com: Keep up with all the other DWC sites here |
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