Wednesday 1/3/24
Want to do some more first sentences? I'm going to paste in some first sentences from stories in what are supposed to be the best outlets. They're all recent. I feel like I don't really need to editorialize. Yesterday's entry about first sentences said what needed saying, and these examples simply do more proving. No one is going to think there's anything special in these first sentences. No one is going to think they're amazing. No one is going to think they're notable. They're just whatever, aren't they? Obviously.
This is from Rosalind Brown's "The Narrow Room," in The Paris Review:
She shakes out the blanket, wraps it around her middle, and sits down.
This is from Jesmyn Ward's "She Who Remembers," in The Atlantic:
The Georgia men wake everyone in the drenched dark.
This is from Dave Eggers' "The Comebacker," in The Atlantic:
The day was cold, cold even for August in San Francisco.
This is from Alice McDermott's "The Year of the Rabbit," in Harper's:
I’m going to take a minute now to see if I can get my dates straight.
This is from Joyce Carol Oates' "The Return," in Harper's:
My friend was a widow, not really old but already a widow twice.
This is from Kate DiCamillo's "On a Winter's Night," in Harper's:
My father told me this story.
This is from Jeffery Renard Allen's "Orbits," in American Short Fiction:
The fumes from the super limousine dirtied the snow.
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