January 13, 2010

Line by Line

I caught wind of a new blog around the Kidlitosphere this week--it's The Daily KidLit Quote, and it's an idea I really like. Just a day-by-day collection of blog readers' favorite quotes from books, with a few thoughts on each one. Simple. Sweet. And I couldn't help but get sucked in because of the post about the opening line of Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis: "There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it." I can't help remembering that one, and remembering how much I detested Eustace...

Speaking of great lines from kidlit, this week I also discovered that fellow writing group member Yat-Yee has a regular weekly happening called Grab-A-Line Monday, in which she shares a line or two that has stuck with her from recent reading and invites readers to do the same. The latest installment is here, and it's definitely inspiring and thought-provoking to ponder what makes these passages stick in our minds. As a writer, I can only hope to one day produce a memorable line or two...

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am one of those people who has notebooks in which she writes quotes from various things. It's one of the ways I indulge my inner librarian.

Kathy B. at forwordsbooks said...

Oh, that first line. I am wracking my brain for one right now. For me, that is my starting buzzer. Once the first line comes out, I am off and running. Until then, no matter what is running around my head, there is no clear vision of the story. Weird, huh?

Sarah Stevenson said...

Adrienne: I used to do that--put favorite book and song quotes in a notebook. Haven't in a long time, but maybe I should start again!

Kathy: Having a good first line can really provide momentum. I can relate! Sadly, sometimes what I think is the first line ends up NOT being the first line in later drafts...

Yat-Yee said...

Thanks for the link to my blog, and thanks for the link to the new blog. Will go over and check it out.

Jan von Harz said...

Great links. Thank you for sharing them. As always never disappointed by what I find right here.