Okay, Believe it or not, I'm helping run a creative writing class. The thing is I need your help. I'm planning on running a session on different view points. The idea being,that people who write in different genres will see the same sentence from different perspectives. I want to try and convince the class not to pigeon hole themselves into one genre. My idea is this; give everyone the same sentence and get them to write for 15-30 minutes. By producing a short piece of work and getting them to read it aloud, it should show that each writer has a different point of view even if given the same starting point. What I need help with is the sentences. I want to veer away from things like 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' but because I'll be doing this as well I don't want to come up with the sentences myself, as they would all lean towards what I write (dark humour). Any help would be appreciated.
"Is there a promised land or am I on the journey going to nowhere? Are the streets paved with gold or am I slipping on the mold that slowly grows there?" - http://www.songlyrics.com/devildriver/monsters-of-the-deep-lyrics/
I saw a good one on reddit: "You're allowed to commit legal homicide once. However you must fill out the correct paperwork, and your victim will be notified." See an amazing user response here.
I read about a short story competition recently that was won by an entry of just one sentance: "Good God I'm Pregnant! I wonder who the father is..." I quite like it. It has mystery, suprise, a religeous element and plenty of scope for expansion.
"Be the broken or the breaker." http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Gateways-lyrics-Dimmu-Borgir/84B236A51764270D482577B6000AD5DA
Not sure if you're asking for 'first' sentences or inspirational kick off points, but here goes: It wasn't that they found her body, it was that the rosewood box was found with her. Cheese, when you think about what cheese really is, is a very strange thing to put in a cake. They took her, and I don't know why I can't make myself feel guilty. He laughed at me and instantly I knew I would be breaking this mornings promise. The damn thing was leaking again. Be quiet angel, just for a few more minutes. For God's sake just stop. She was finally free of gravity and free from pain. Jesus Christ Joe, I tell you, it'll never fit. The fire took everything except what he wanted lost. She was the sweetest thing I ever saw. I never did like that animal. A warm embrace in winter is most welcome. It was still dark, and now even colder than earlier. He was at the drop off point, but who was the guy in the penguin suit? Strangely, he smelled better dead than most people smelled while still living. The engine fell silent, yet it was impossible they had arrived. Ugliness was always at the front of my mind. I'll tell you why I shot them both. Everyone who had ever hated at me had their eyes fixed on me. All a bit quick. Use any you like and hack the grammar to fit your needs. Sounds like fun
The idea is that everyone has to use the sentence somewhere in their piece of work. Where they put it, what grammar they use with it, and how it's expressed is entirely down to them. This should hopefully show the differences in view points, because within the group we have: someone who writes children's stories, someone who writes spy stories, someone who writes dark humour (me - see the links in my signature for examples), someone who writes poetry, someone who is amazing at imagery. Here's the problem - they never attempt to write anything other than their preferred genre (except for one person). They are missing out on a lot of what they could write as it's 'not their genre'. I'd like to change that so that they can write in multiple genres, or at least give them the experience.
Looking back, he never figured out why he had to kill all those kids. This one, of course is for the tollolololz. give this one to a under achiever
I've done something similar with a group in a PTLLS class, the short quote we ended up using as a base for the writing was: "Dreams are the touchstones of our character."
@Julianmartin: From how I read it, I feel he wants a sentence that could be applied to many genres, and it would be up to the writer to define that genre. By doing this the writers can see how a different perspective can bring about many different stories from the same starting point. That's why I tried to make my sentence as ambiguous as possible.
