Week #46 – The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler

Last year on Mondays we had fun with books. This year, we'll look at most of the same books but also some new ones, and see if the first line [or first paragraph] met the goal of a first line which is ==> to hook the reader's attention.

Here are some tips on writing a first line

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/tips-for-writing-the-opening-line-of-your-novel

Week #46 –   The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Accidental_Tourist

First published:  August 12, 1985

Here's what the story is about: Travel writer Macon Leary hates travel. He loses his son and his marriage, and becomes increasingly solitary. Then he meets Muriel, an eccentric dog trainer, who upends his life.

First line/paragraph:

They were supposed to stay at the beach a week, but neither of them had the heart for it and they decided to come back early. Macon drove. Sarah sat next to him, leaning her head against the side window. Chips of cloudy sky showed through her tangled brown curls.

This story starts in the third person POV of Macon, who we assume is the protagonist. He and Sarah, possibly his wife, are returning early from a beach trip because “neither of them had the heart for it.” We are in the middle of the plot, and we are already introduced to some intrigue because we are curious why neither had the heart to continue with a beach trip. I would definitely give this story at least a chapter to see if it hooked me.

Does this first line/paragraph hook your attention? If you had never heard of this story, would you buy this book in 2024? Knowing the story, would you change the first line? Tell us in the comments!

O'Abby's November writing prompt

It's that time of year where the seasons are changing and the weather can be unpredictable, even savage.  And weather has a huge effect on us both in terms of our moods and emotions as well as the activities we might do.

This month's prompt is to write a scene that happens outdoors and to then re-write the same scene, but set in a different season with completely different weather.  Think about how the weather conditions change the character's outlook on the events happening around them, and how their actions might be dictated by the weather.

For example, in one of my books there is a scene where my POV character goes out in a blizzard to get wood for the fire and winds up nearly freezing to death when he slips on ice and sprains an ankle and can't get anyone's attention because of the noise of the wind.

If I was to rewrite the same scene, but set in the summer, it would be either a very different scene entirely, or I'd need to find a new way to create danger for my MC so he has the same level of fear for his life - and the people depending on him -  that he has in the existing scene.

Post your scenes in the comments so we can all see them.

I'll be looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Happy writing!

X O'Abby

Week #44 – The Stand by Stephen King

Last year on Mondays we had fun with books. This year, we'll look at most of the same books but also some new ones, and see if the first line [or first paragraph] met the goal of a first line which is ==> to hook the reader's attention.

Here are some tips on writing a first line

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/tips-for-writing-the-opening-line-of-your-novel

Week #44 –   The Stand by Stephen King

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stand

First published:  October 3, 1978

Here's what the story is about: Stephen King's longest novel at close to 500,000 words. A post-apocalyptic story. The Department of Defense develops an extremely contagious and lethal strain of influenza, resistant to medications and vaccines, as a biological weapon. It is accidentally released, killing most of the world's population. The book follows people struggling to survive and reestablish a society. 

First line/paragraph:

“Sally.”
A mutter.
“Wake up now, Sally”
A louder mutter: leeme lone.
He shook her harder.
“Wake up. You got to wake up!”
Charlie.
Charlie’s voice. Calling her. For how long?
Sally swam up out of sleep.
First she glanced at the clock on the night table and saw it was quarter past two in the morning. Charlie shouldn’t even be here; he should be on shift. Then she got her first good look at him and something leaped up inside her, some deadly intuition.

This story starts in what appears to be the third person POV of Charlie but then looks like the third person POV of Sally. The story starts in media res, with Sally shaken awake by Charlie. We learn it's 2:15am, Charlie should be at work, he's telling her she HAS to wake up, and something about the way he looks makes her deathly afraid. At this point we don't know if either one of these characters is the protagonist, but we know they are in the middle of something scary. Well, it's Stephen King so that last observation is obvious. I'm NOT a fan of Stephen King [I'm a wimp] so I might be enticed to read the first chapter but probably not more than that. However, if I was a fan of horror stories and/or Stephen King, I'd definitely want to read more. This is a great opening page.

Does this first line/paragraph hook your attention? If you had never heard of this story, would you buy this book in 2024? Knowing the story, would you change the first line? Tell us in the comments!