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Do I have what it takes?

R

Radioactive X

New Member
First may I say that I am new to these whole forum things, but I LOVE reading books and must spend 17 hours a day with some form of literature in my hand (I used to do it whilst eating, but stopped after a particularly bad gravy burn).

Anyway, I am considering writing my first novel and having it published. It is called "The wandering student", and is about a school pupil who doesn't fit in but ends up gaining super powers, saving the earth and gaining his pupils respect. I hope to have it published sometime in 2006 (but knowing my typing skills, probably somewhere around 2060!)

So, as fellow book-lovers, I thought I would ask your opinion as to what the first line should be. I have whittled it down to 2 so far:

- ' "OW!" he thought in agony. He had just caught the most sensitive part of his anatomy in his trouser flies again. He was always experiencing bad luck, but this was a new one.'

- ' The boy slowly slid a gluestick into his mouth and gazed at the teacher. After a few minutes of contemplation, he removed it reluctantly.'

So which do you think I should choose? Be honest and PLEASE REPLY!!!
 
hiya, i'm not a writer in any capacity, but i like the glue stick one better. the zipper is too,"something about mary".
you should check out the writers showcase here on the fourm. you will get honest, very honest opinions. good luck.
jenn
 
I'm with Jenn on this one. It sounds like a book for older kids and teens from your description. I think you'd be hedging yourself into a corner with the zipper line. Lots of parents read the first few paragraphs of a book when deciding what to let their kids read. I can't see the "anatomy" issue going over well as an opening line.
 
I'd go with the gluestick too....


What makes you so sure you'll get published in any given year?
"I hope to have it published sometime in 2006"

If you have not even started the thing yet, how are you going to write it, review it, re-write it, submit for consideration, perform multiple edits based on grammar and spelling issues, re-write it a few more times.....and get this all done and published in any sort of set time frame?

I'm just curious about the time frame you have in mind...unless you plan on self-publishing?

I consider the zipper of my pants to be the "fly", not "flies"...but that's just me....
 
It would be flies in the UK rather than fly. Since we invented the language it's the correct usage. Ner Ner Ner Ner! :D
 
Motokid said:
I'd go with the gluestick too....


What makes you so sure you'll get published in any given year?
"I hope to have it published sometime in 2006"

If you have not even started the thing yet, how are you going to write it, review it, re-write it, submit for consideration, perform multiple edits based on grammar and spelling issues, re-write it a few more times.....and get this all done and published in any sort of set time frame?

I'm just curious about the time frame you have in mind...unless you plan on self-publishing?

I consider the zipper of my pants to be the "fly", not "flies"...but that's just me....
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interesting though, i would have bet on you like the zipper line. you strike me as a sort of led by the contents of his drawers kinda guy. :D :p
 
Wabbit said:
It would be flies in the UK rather than fly. Since we invented the language it's the correct usage. Ner Ner Ner Ner! :D
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"Ner Ner Ner Ner"?

Don't you mean "Nanny-Nanny Boo-Boo"?

and we still kicked ya'll's butts! :D

So poke that in your lorrie and articulate it!

:D
 
I'm a pretty avid writer. Not lately though, I've had some writer's block.

But I'm not bad... but I'm not great either. If you want to write, write. You shouldn't ask for anyones approval.

Good luck! :)
 
Wabbit said:
It would be flies in the UK rather than fly.
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I, as a citizen of the UK, have never heard it referred to as a plural - it is most definitely fly.

And, to the original poster, sod trying to get a first line. Write the bloody story and then come back to the first line.

I hope to have it published sometime in 2006
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I find that to be a somewhat naive comment.
 
leckert said:
"Ner Ner Ner Ner"?

Don't you mean "Nanny-Nanny Boo-Boo"?

and we still kicked ya'll's butts! :D

So poke that in your lorrie and articulate it!

:D
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I know what i mean!( Kinda ) So shove that in your truck and haul it... or something :D

Stewart said:
as a citizen of the UK, have never heard it referred to as a plural - it is most definitely fly.
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Well as a resident of England/London it's most definitly flies. :p You Scots never did get the hang of English :D
 
Stewart said:
I, as a citizen of the UK, have never heard it referred to as a plural - it is most definitely fly.
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Interesting - down here the term would be "Your flies are undone" as oppose to "your fly is undone". Can any northerners comment? (by northerner I mean anyone north of Watford Gap :D )
 
My new toy, the Oxford English Dictionary, includes two examples of fly being used in the plural, both from the 1950s, one by a writer born in Liverpool who was also an Oxford professor, the other by the great-grandaughter of Dickens.

The OED also indicates that the fly was originally the flap used to cover the buttons, or the two flaps with the holes for laces. The latter may have been the origin of the plural form. Since a zipper also has two sides, I can see how it could be plural as well.

In America, I have never heard the plural, though the common way of saying it--"Your fly's down"--almost sounds that way.
 
Wabbit said:
I know what i mean!( Kinda ) So shove that in your truck and haul it... or something :D



Well as a resident of England/London it's most definitly flies. :p You Scots never did get the hang of English :D
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I must admit... it does sound better in "English" than in "Americanish".

And, honestly, most places here in the States where I have lived, we wouldn't say either "your fly is down" or "your flies are undone", we'd just laugh and point.

:p
 
Radioactive X said:
First may I say that I am new to these whole forum things, but I LOVE reading books and must spend 17 hours a day with some form of literature in my hand (I used to do it whilst eating, but stopped after a particularly bad gravy burn).

Was the gravy burn due to the fact that your fly;flies;flys were/was open at the time of the spillage.


Reading for seventeen hours a day. How many books a week is this?

This has to be a wind up ;)
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