This is the Best First Line in All Fiction

Go ahead, fight me

Jul 13, 2021

Hi friends,

Prompt Twitter is fun, and anytime the “What’s the best first line/line from a book?” comes around, I am quick to respond. The best first line of all fiction is “We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.” from M.T. Anderson’s FEED. Why? Because you can learn a whole MFA’s worth of writing skills in that one sentence.

FEED is also one of my favorite books and one of the few (non-client) books I’ve read more than once. (Don’t @ me—there are too many books to read!) I’m not going to summarize it for you here, because actually, I think that first sentence does it for you. That’s why it’s so good! Here’s more:

WE WENT TO THE MOON

Look how much you know about the story from those few words!! Moon travel is possible. Moon travel is possible for a group of people. And it sounds like you could go with your friends, most any time you want! AND it’s in the past tense! The “we” in this sentence came back! Look at the world building there. Think about what you can assume about the rest of a world where space travel is run of the mill. (The inflated egos of arrogant American billionaires notwithstanding.) It’s truly stunning. If you didn’t already know from the cover, those five words tell you this is science fiction.

TO HAVE FUN

More world building! But these three words actually tell you a lot about character. Even though we don’t know who the “we” are yet, we do know that going to the moon is their idea of fun. That, to me, paints a certain kind of character in my mind. I mean, I would go to the moon to have fun if that were possible, so maybe this is just speaking to me personally. These three worlds also contribute to world building because you start to imagine what activities or events would make the moon fun. Zero G roller coasters? Kitschy astronaut ice cream parlors? Jetson’s-style space malls under glass domes? Three little words bring all this to mind!!

BUT THE MOON TURNED OUT TO COMPLETELY SUCK

And here’s the kicker. This is where the author turns on the voice. If you didn’t already know, this is a YA novel. And no one can pull off a snarky reversal like this but a teen. The moon! That you can casually go to! Actually sucks!!!! Look how that colors everything you’ve already painted in your mind Those moon roller coasters are boring! The moon mall is half boarded up! Everything is overpriced! Of course, the reader doesn’t know if these specifics bear out yet, but it doesn’t matter. Your impression of the world has completely flipped. And/or the character you are about to follow for the whole book thinks something assumed to be cool is actually crap, and that tells you loads more about them, too.

Sixteen words construct the backbone of this whole novel. If you can achieve that, through art, talent, AND EDITING, then I officially bestow upon you a Fiction writing MFA, no student loan debt necessary.

PAID SUBSCRIBERS! We’re thick into the Fifty Queries Club, but I’m still open to Q&A Thursdays! If you have a question for me, respond to any Thursday email and ask away! Not a subscriber yet? Click here!

NEW RELEASE EXTRAVAGANZA!!!

It’s a banner day for new releases from #TeamMcKean clients. Take look:

Out today! SWORD STONE TABLE, edited by Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington is an excellently reviewed and much praised collection of inclusive King Arthur retellings and you need it right now. Order it from bookshop.org and register for their virtual launch event tonight presented by WORD Bookstore Live!!
Out today!! JILLIAN VS PARASITE PLANET by Nicole Kornher-Stace! It’s take your kid to work day in space and guess what? Everything goes wrong! This wonderful middle grade science fiction novel has everything from snarky robots to parasite worms. Happy book birthday Jillian (and Nicole)!
Happy paperback birthday to Caela Carter’s HOW TO BE A GIRL IN THE WORLD, a beautiful middle grade novel about consent, what’s a joke and what’s not, and speaking up for yourself when you feel like your voice is so small. I cry every time I read this book because it is just so good.
And last but not least, happy pub day to friend-of-the-newsletter Laura Portwood-Stacer and her THE BOOK PROPOSAL BOOK: A Guide for Scholarly Authors. You should also be subscribed to her newsletter Manuscript Works, which is kinda like this newsletter but smarter and for academic writers. :)