First Impressions

So.

My writing life has been kind of crazy ever since I finished the first book in the WISHE Quintet. I’ve started plotting three different stories, but none of them are ready to write. And I’ve ~~really~~ kind of been procrastinating on editing the book. I’m moving on to editing a short story first, that I hope to release soon. You’ll be hearing more about that soon, for sure.

But I’ve been longing to write something. To just write. Which is why, on Thursday, when I got a story idea, I just started writing it.

Now, *cough* funny thing about this story idea. First of all, it’s a romance. That is definitely not my genre. I very rarely read plain romance, much less write it so I made be tweaking the story so that it’s not just romance. Second, after reading through what I wrote yesterday, I realized it’s not quite as awesome as I originally thought. Basically, this post by The Scribbling Sprite pretty much sums it up. 😉

But I’ve already written a little over a hundred words, which isn’t much, but is more than I’ve written in an entire month. I’m really, really excited about it.

At this point, you are probably very confused about the title of the post. Let me explain it to you now. The working title for this story is I Love Cake. Here’s my quick summary:

When Adelyn meets her new neighbor’s son, he insists they keep their meetings a secret. They talk to each other through the warped fence in between their houses. Since he insists on remaining anonymous, she calls him Cake. When his mother finds out about their secret meetings, Cake mysteriously disappears. It’s up to Adelyn to find out what’s going on.

And… That’s what I have so far. I’m working on it, people. Let me assure you that there will be cake in the book. And other foods. Because you can’t have a book called I Love Cake without having cake.

But as I started writing, I fell in love with my first line. It’s obviously a first draft, but still.

The first thing I remember of the day I met Cake was that my mom let me have the last strawberry Popsicle.

-I Love Cake, by C.B. Cook

I thought it might be interesting to assemble a list of first lines from my various ideas/works in progress. And then have a poll! Why not? So, vote for your favorite first line!

Here are short summaries for the books.

I Love Cake: Adelyn finds a new mysterious friend she nicknames Cake.

Ten Days: The story about how a girl spends her last ten days.

Glossophobia: Amanda’s stuck in Mr. Bullis’ speech class… and she just realized she has the fear of public speaking.

WISHE Quintet #2: Shhh… I’m not telling. 😛

The first line of a story is important because it determines whether a reader will keep reading or not. Awesome first sentences can pull you in, and poor ones can push you away. First impressions make all the difference.

What’s your favorite first line in a book? If you’re a writer, what’s your favorite first line in the books you’ve written? Which of these stories and first lines most intrigues you?