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The Steve Laube Agency

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Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Archives for Steve Laube » Page 16

Steve Laube

The First Lines of Your Novel

By Steve Laubeon January 29, 2024
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The opening lines of a novel are like an introduction to the rest of the story. Some have become famous. “It was a dark and stormy night” is the well-known beginning of that struggling novelist Snoopy in the cartoon Peanuts. It is also the first line of Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s novel Paul Clifford (1830), as well as the first line in Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. (L’Engle admitted she was having a little fun with her readers by using that line.)

I hope you spend a lot of time thinking about your novel’s first sentence. It is a first impression. Let’s make it a good one. For as John Gardner wrote in his book On Becoming a Novelist,

We read five words on the first page of a really good novel and we begin to forget that we are reading printed words on a page; we begin to see images.

Can you recognize any of the following first lines (without Googling them)? Give your best guess in the comments below. (Author? Book title?) The answers will be posted in the comments later today.

(1) “It is 348 years, six months and nineteen days ago today that the citizens of Paris were awakened by the pealing of all the bells in the triple precincts of the City, the University and the Town.”

(2) “Robert Cohn was once middleweight boxing champion of Princeton.”

(3) “When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.”

(4) “Alex Stafford was just like Mama said. He was tall and dark, and Sarah had never seen anyone so beautiful.”

(5) “Rayford Steele’s mind was on a woman he had never touched.”

(6) “On that November afternoon when I first saw Cutter Gap, the crumbling chimney of Alice Henderson’s cabin stood stark against the sky, blackened by the flames that had consumed the house.”

(7) “At dusk they pour from the sky. They blow across the ramparts, turn cartwheels over rooftops, flutter into the ravines between houses. Entire streets swirl with them, flashing white against the cobbles.”

(8) “You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.”

(9) “A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head. The green earflaps, full of large ears and uncut hair and the fine bristles that grew in the ears themselves, stuck out at either side like turn signals indicating two directions at once.”

(10) “It all began with the aurochs.”

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Category: Craft, Creativity, Writing CraftTag: Craft, Creativity, first lines, Writing Craft

Fun Fridays – January 26, 2024

By Steve Laubeon January 26, 2024
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Time to blow your mind. Today’s video is a visual representation of J.S. Bach’s “Canon” that was written to be able to be played forward and backward–and simultaneously front to back. Genius composition on display. Seemingly simple and even mundane. Just wait for it to unfold. Apparently composed in response to a composition challenge by King Frederick the Great …

Read moreFun Fridays – January 26, 2024
Category: Fun Fridays

What Entered the Public Domain This Year?

By Steve Laubeon January 22, 2024
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I try to post something about this every year. This year is no exception. In the United States, under U.S. copyright law, works published in 1928 and earlier are now in public domain. One can publish them or use them without securing copyright permission. In case you are wondering about the specifics, the Copyright Term Extension Act (passed in 1998) gave works published from 1923 through 1977 a …

Read moreWhat Entered the Public Domain This Year?
Category: Book Business, Copyright Issues, Publishing History

Fun Fridays – January 19, 2024

By Steve Laubeon January 19, 2024
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Since many of you have been experiencing an extra dose of winter this month, I thought this video about the symmetry of the snowflake is fascinating. As you watch the video, consider the magnificence of God’s handiwork. Awe-inspiring. Worthy of worship.  

Read moreFun Fridays – January 19, 2024
Category: Fun Fridays

A Year in Review: A Look Back at 2023

By Steve Laubeon January 15, 2024
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It is always a good idea to reflect on the previous year. As those who follow Jesus Christ, we are pressed because the lost world around us is being crushed by the enemy called sin. And yet we should still count our blessings (and as the hymn reads, “name them one by one”). The goodness of God remains unchanged despite attempts to proclaim otherwise. The following is an attempt to review some …

Read moreA Year in Review: A Look Back at 2023
Category: Agency, Awards, Career, Christian Writers Institute, Encouragement, Historical, Inspiration, Publishing News, The Publishing Life, The Writing Life

No Post Today

By Steve Laubeon January 8, 2024
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“Enjoying” the flu season.

Read moreNo Post Today
Category: Personal

Back on January 8th

By Steve Laubeon December 26, 2023
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We are taking a short break. Resuming on January 8th. Happy New Year! The Steve Laube Agency

Read moreBack on January 8th
Category: Personal

Fun Fridays – ‘Twas the Night Before Deadline’

By Steve Laubeon December 22, 2023
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Enjoy this Christmas Fun Friday guest post written by Frank Ball a number of years ago. Frank is a great friend to all writers, having mentored hundreds of them over the years. (Visit his personal website here.) With his permission I changed the title a little and the opening line to fit today’s theme. ‘Twas the Night Before Deadline ‘Twas the night before deadline, when all …

Read moreFun Fridays – ‘Twas the Night Before Deadline’
Category: Fun Fridays, Guest Post

Merry Christmas 2023

By Steve Laubeon December 18, 2023
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Every year, we contemplate the wondrous mystery of the Incarnation. The eternal God coming to us in the form of a baby. And his name is called Jesus. J.I. Packer wrote in his book Knowing God: The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is …

Read moreMerry Christmas 2023
Category: Personal

Fun Fridays – December 15, 2023

By Steve Laubeon December 15, 2023
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A performance you can listen to over and over. Soli Deo Gloria!  

Read moreFun Fridays – December 15, 2023
Category: Fun Fridays
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