We've looked at crafty words, high powered sentences, engaging the reader (or not); now let's focus on opening lines. Post the opening line to your selection and comment on its success or failure.
Is it weird that I LOVE reading these posts. I hope you are enjoying what you're reading as much as I am enjoying what you write.
Keep up the good work!
16 comments:
I had to include two opening lines, because I couldn't decide which one to post! They're both so good. The first introduces a recipe for a Brown Sugar Angel Food Bundt Cake.
"Life is like a Bundt cake pan. You can either focus on the big hole in the middle or appreciate the light, fluffy cake it holds."
I like this opening line because it provides a new metaphor to the ways in which people look at life. I usually hear "glass half-empty/glass half-full" or looking at life with "rose colored glasses" metaphors when talking about looking on the bright side. This bundt cake metaphor, however, is something new, and works really well in tying in the two subjects of her post: to look at the positive side of things, and to bake a bundt cake. I think it's very original, creative, and engaging.
The second opening line is:
"In the equation of life, I liked to put myself on the gaping side of the greater than symbol. "
I really like this opening line as well. It makes the reader wonder, why? Why does she want to be on that side? Why not on the other side where she can still have things to reach towards and accomplish? I really like the (again) metaphor she used to start her post because it draws the reader in, makes them question, and urges them to read on.
“Good news: The people who track killer asteroids for NASA are still on the case, despite the government shutdown.”
Collins, once again, supplies a witty opening line that bites sarcastically at the inept state of Congress. The line utilizes humor to grab the reader’s interest, playfully jabbing at the seriousness of the topic while still addressing the frustration of the situation. It is very typical of Collins’ writing to mix humorous sarcasm with opinionated statements, and if the reader is familiar with her, their expectations are met immediately. I wish the opening sentence was a bit more indicative of the following subject matter as it slightly misleads the leader, but in a deeper way it does. It immediately brings up the shutdown, and references the fact that some, but not all, government programs are suffering and that public safety is in jeopardy. In a subtle, way, it introduces her point in its entirety in an unexpected, understanded, and enjoyable way.
“This is a magical time of year, my friends”
“What I’m about to share with you is a bit of an experiment.”
These two opening lines captivate the reader instantly. She engages the reader by posing a statement that is incomplete. She casts the fishing line, and that first bite is the first line. We are instantly hooked. The reader wants to know what she is talking about. The mystery is not confusing, rather intriguing. We want to know why it is “a magical time of year” and what she is about to tell us. I like this technique because it instantly interests the reader.
"To reduce her speech to a declaration of sexuality is to ignore all the other things that she was telling us."
This sentence is a great opener, because it sets up the topic of this essay with information on her topic, but also has just enough ambiguity to spark the readers curiosity. We want to know what else she is telling us, and what it is that so many have overlooked. We want the inside scoop, and so we read on...
"Which takes longer: signing who-knows-how-many autographs while standing over a pool table … or waiting for the officials to spot the ball during the Wisconsin-Arizona State game?
As we ponder those questions, let's begin this week's BMOC."
I really like this opening line because it grabs the reader. I laughed when I read it, which made me want to continue reading the article. He was able to paint a clear picture in my head of someone signing autographs on a pool table. When I continued reading, I found it was strange that the opening sentence didn't have much to do with the rest of the article. The rest of the article talks about the university of Alabama Crimson Tide football team and their recent game.
"Contrary to popular belief, sailing is no stranger to the extrovert energy drink giant Red Bull."
I thought that this was a great opening sentence. I think that it makes the reader want to know what kind of sailing the author is talking about. I also liked how the author made a connection to Red Bull. Not only does it make the race sound faced paced and exciting, but it also references the sponsor.
"In Homer's "The Iliad," a mythical Greek god drove his "nonwearying" team of horses toward the Western sun. They would become legendary as Helios, Pyros, Aeo, Aethon and Phlegon.
In modern lore, the solar steed stampede that takes flight consists of Peyton, Demaryius, Wes, Eric and Julius."
I wouldn't expect a sports writer to be referencing Homer, but the opening line "works" for me. It intrigued me enough that I wanted to keep reading, and the second part made the connection to football. It also gave me the image of Peyton riding on a chariot off into the sun with his receiving core, which made me smile. This somewhat unconventional opener did enough to separate itself from all the other boring sports writers while not losing the audience that really only cares about the sports news. Paige also concluded the article with a similar reference; it gave the piece nice closure.
"Regular readers of this column will know that I don’t really believe in animals."
The first thing that caught my eye about this opening line is that it really doesn't make any sense. How could you not believe in a living thing? I needed to read on to understand this blasphemy.
After taking a step back, I realized that that my reaction was exactly what made this a successful opening line. It hooked me instantly because out of context the phrase seemed odd, so it prompted me to continue reading in order to make sense of it. Also, I think it was clever to begin using "Regular readers of my column..." because it at least made me feel like I wanted to identify with that title--I wanted to read all her essays to fit into that description, so in a way it was a sort of plug for her work in general.
You see glistening mermaid sightings on Animal Planet more than you catch glimpses of vintage John McCain on Capitol Hill.
This opening line caught my eye right away- almost as if it was glistening like the mermaids. It plays on the humor of our society and how, no matter how many times people say mermaids aren't real, people still believe it is possible to find one. This comparison makes appearances by John McCain seem almost nonexistent. I can see how this sentence might be a bit of an exaggeration for some but for me is it successful and made me want to continue to read the rest of the piece.
“This has been a great era for the study of error.”
This is a merely good opening line from a very good writer. This is only my personal opinion and maybe someone else would have been more intrigued about the study of error, but I feel that David Brooks could have made it more exciting. Instead of making me interested about the study of failure, he made it a simple statement that did not grab my attention. The opening sentence did its job, and I didn’t immediately hit the back-button on my browser to find a different article, but that is all that it did.
"What did our efforts yield? Hope, yes, but mostly chaos and confusion."
This article is titled, 'Medicine, hope and managing death.' Again, I love the simplicity of Meghan Daum here. Out of her articles online, this opening line caught my eye. Short and simple, but has a lot of impact for me as the reader. The simplicity of this line came with a sense of mystery. Efforts would yield to hope, but how did chaos and confusion play a role? This question hooked me to read the rest of the article.
"Would you bet on the caterpillar over the Caterpillar? The goose over the 747?"
I love Reilly's opening sentence to his article. Not only does it do a great of making you wonder why these questions are being asked but it also perfectly sets up the article. In the paragraphs to follow, Reilly talks about how the Jacksonville Jaguars will beat the Denver Broncos on sunday. Jacksonville being one of the worst teams in the league with a record of 0-7, it makes sense that Reilly would put a slow flying goose against one of the most powerful planes. He does a great job of directly talking about certain things in an indirect way.
"Our challenge today is to explain how Congress evolved into our national nutcase."
Gail Collins opens with here usual sarcasm. This makes me want to here what else she has to say about congress. The opening line should have a hook to keep the reader interested in the article and Gail Collin does a excellent job at doing this. I really enjoy reading her work especially if there is a hint of humor in it.
"Playful and soft enough to butter around on, yet slightly stiff to handle big tricks at high speed—that’s how most prefer a good, solid park ski."
Well said, Freeskier Mag. I opened up the new Freeskier buyer's guide the other day and found it refreshing to here the perfect contrast and diversity everyone wants to hear defining the ski of one's dreams (not to mention finding it refreshing that the number #1 rated ski overall is the Armada Henrik Harlaut pro model "Al Dente" - the skis designed by the company I work for and the pro model of one of my friends). The author uses the dash really well in his opening line. He creates an ideal example of a perfect ski to set the scene for the skis he is about to rate, many of which live up to the standard he describes. He also uses the contrast of two different extremes very well, saying that a ski with the perfect middle ground is ski everybody wants. One thing that he could have mentioned in the first sentence, as to not throw the reader off, would be to mention the diversity of the skis being presented - some are in fact super buttery and and not built for high speed hits whereas some are rated up to 8 and 9 on the tip and tail respectively and stiff enough to handle ice as as firm as concrete yet how they are all well-built enough to make it into the top 10 list for 2014 park skis.
"Sir Alex Ferguson believed he was “leaving the club in the lurch” when he confirmed his intention to retire as Manchester United manager."
There is nothing special about this opening line, Ogden states what the article is about. Ogden is a factual writer so it wasn't a surprise to see this type of opening. I picked this opening though because this issue of Manchester United being in a lurch has been a huge controversy for a long time. In total, this opening just sets the stage casually, which is not a bad way to go.
"Chickens may be better at math than toddlers. They don’t deserve to be tortured."
When I read this opening line to Kristof's latest post, I was honestly really confused. Actually, I was more captivated than confused. It doesn't really make much sense, and it alludes to two very different ideas: the comparable intelligences of chickens and toddlers as well as animal abuse. The juxtaposition made me want to learn more about what he was writing about and read his article. This was a really great and surprising hook, and it hints at Kristof's witty humor, which he is not very liberal with. It's really interesting to see a rather comical side of him, because most of his articles are pretty serious.
Lil note: I was in bed sleeping like 5 minutes ago and then I remembered about this and had a lil panic attack got out of bed to do this. You're welcome Mary!!!!
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