Will Chambers Was Late Again

Before there were massive TV screens in nearly every living room in America, nearly every pub and restaurant, retail store and shopping mall, there were smaller TV screens in far fewer places. Before even that there were books.

Books are remarkable. So low-tech, yet an hour of books is often packed with far greater knowledge than the equivalent span of time with a talking head and fancy graphics. My appreciation for them is on the upswing once again, even non-fiction, which is unusual for me, but I've been thinking today about fiction.

I don't know that I'll ever find the time to write a novel, but if I ever do, I will think carefully about the very first sentence. I read an article once on memorable first sentences from famous books. A great opening can make all the difference in the world.

Recently I read The Resurrection File by Craig Parshall. "Will Chambers was late again," the author begins.

The book is easily one of my favorite works of fiction to date, though the first sentence is a rather modest opening shot. I like the length and even the boldness of breaking the first rule of powerful writing: use action verbs. It's not the greatest of first sentences but you zip right through it to the second, a payoff of sorts that builds the intrigue.

So I was thinking about these first sentences today and came up with one that I liked. The sentence came first, and then I thought of a couple of plots that could follow. Then I tried to think of some more good opening sentences but ultimately decided I was spent for the day. I now present the first sentence of a story I'll probably never write:

Up until the day he won that fishing boat, Mrs.Vaschon considered her husband a winner.