Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

Devi1_May_Cry t1_j33nzhd wrote

So I read the excerpt for Love to Last a Lifetime on Amazon.com. Here's the first paragraph:

>From the moment I laid eyes on Greta, I knew she was meant to be loved by me for a lifetime. She'd been talking to my best friend's girlfriend and her smile drew me in like a moth to a flame. Who would have ever guessed our story would be one for the ages?

That is, without a doubt, the single worst opening paragraph I've read in a long time. There are so many issues with it, I don't know where to begin.

31

jwm3 t1_j3fi5t3 wrote

May I introduce you to the Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest? It is a contest to write the worst opening paragraph of what would be an awful novel. https://www.bulwer-lytton.com/

It was named after the penner of this famously bad opening paragraph.

"It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness."

9

YoungToySoldier t1_j361ex3 wrote

I rolled my eyes no less than 5 times reading that single paragraph. I think they would fall out if I tried the book.

4