Chapter 6: the beginning is always the hardest part. i read this a couple of years ago for fun, and i was impressed by your knowledge and critical analyzations of first lines. however. i would like to add my own critique as well. granted, i am well aware that this was written and updated a few years ago, but if you ever decide to revamp some of the sections, i hope you take these into consideration.

for the "catch-22" first line(s), i think it is a bit problematic to refer to it as a "curveball" since while it is going for shock value, the shock is supposed to come from the lack of heteronormativity. i think an analyzation of that shocks would be beneficial since it relies on an expectation and subversion. i think explaining the plots (to an extent) as well can help as well since this book is about trying to be discharged from the army to avoid fighting in a war but being caught in the titular catch-22. is this first line equating homouality to a mental illness? or are looking at genuine love? since this book was written in a different time period, and views have changed, i think studying and questioning why we are caught off guard and/or shocked by this first line helps us understand our intrigue. are we interested only because we are shocked? or because we are excited/intrigued by (possible) representation?

the one from "the bell jar" should also have more expansion since the whole point of mentioning the rosenburgs is setting the reader up for a time and place. there really shouldn't be so much intrigue to why they are dead since this is a historical anecdote rather than solely a plot point or metaphor. it tells us that we are a.) probably in the united states and b.) it takes place during the cold war. this first line is a great way to introduce the setting and some minor characterization rather than just an exciting beginning. of course, if you are unaware of american history which is perfectly fine and normal really, the execution of the rosenburgs would be a wtf moment. it gets the job done as you said, but i think elaborating on what i mentioned above is still important since it is more than just intrigue.

as for the original example sentences you gave, while they pique my interest, they all feel the same. i understand you are trying to make them based off a single idea of a character being the new kid at school, the first three especially follow the same pattern of A+B=C. the character (I/Joy/Jinyoung) then some sort of time measurement ("two days etc."/"seven minutes"/"less than half a day") that helps emphasizes a negative aspect of school (detention/general dislike/bullies). your last example doesn't follow the same formula, but it might as well since the vibe is completely the same.

there isn't anything wrong starting off a school story with negativity, but i think giving only one type of atmospheric example fails to show the variety of ways in which you can do it. partly i'm critiquing this is because beginning any type of #schoollife fic with these type of opening lines has already been done and doesn't really offer anything new to the table other than the fact that you doing it with a lot more finesse and technique. the other reason is because i feel when you are only giving examples that are very similar to each other like this, in the atmospheric tone, it limits your ability to show your skills as a writer. it pigeonholes you.

other atmospheric techniques i think that you probably should have discussed would be a beginning that just sets up the setting and world building. kind of like the beginning of "the song of achilles" by madeline miller ("my father was the king and the son of kings.") or "the last unicorn" by peter beagle ("the unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone.") another one that is my personal favorite is dramatic irony. this is stories like "the secret history" by donna tartt ("the snow in the mountains was melting and bunny had been dead for several weeks before we realized the gravity of our situation.") and "everything i never told you" by celeste ng ("lydia is dead. but they don't know this yet.") the latter one directly inspired the first line of a fic i'm working on. i think this is kind of like a nudge-wink to the reader, like hey i'm gonna let you in on a secret that the main characters don't even know about it. it keeps up the suspense you can build around it. or even the beginning of "the stranger" by albert camus is worth talking about since it is what i personally think is one of the pinnacles of immediate characterization ("maman died today. or yesterday, i don't know.")

you isolate the first lines from the body of the story. having an interesting first line is always good, but the way you address it during some of the examples just feels off. for instance, "mortal engines." you're probably going to read the description of the book or fic before you begin reading it. so why are you terribly surprised by how it starts? how else would a book like that start? it's intrigueing, sure. but if you have the premise of the story, why is it so shocking? there needs to be more merging of all the sections since these parts don't function independently. and this is the most recent chapter, and you haven't gone on to make more chapters discussing other topics, but i think there is also a lot of focus on a hook rather than what flows best. so this makes it feel not necessarily less genuine, but you're making anyone taking advice from this rely more on that first line than the rest of the chapter. i think this probably should have been a section in the "opening chapter" listed in your table of contents, but i get why you dedicate a chapter itself to this topic. to me, judging a story by it's first line is like judging a pilot episode by its first scene. having intrigue and shock isn't bad at all, but there is a definite buildup to something that should keep the reader engaged.

if you ever do update this (because who knows - maybe you've moved on to greener pastures), i think having a chapter dedicated to world building and setting would be great since no one ever really discusses that on this site. having a chapter on themes would be great to. like a discussion of how you can make a story impactful enough for the readers to be able to take something away from it. and character development! honestly, probably the most rewarding part of any story.

Chapter 6: Wow, very helpful because im stuck on how to start my paper ( i have one page to describe an event that happens in 1 minute or less)

Chapter 2: Im in a creative writing class and this is very helpful to me

Thank you for this helpful guide!

Chapter 6: wow I love this! I come across rant books quite often, which call out authors on their poor-writing skills and/or cliches, but I like how you're actually teaching and helping people with it.
Btw that Jackson opening-line makes me want to write a fic like that xD

I think this is gonna help me. Thanks for the guide!

I just remembered this existed lol

Chapter 5: About the italics - I don’t know if you’re a comic book fan, but in comics almost every other word is stressed, but there doesn’t seem to be any particular reason for this. Do you have any idea why?

(P.S. I apologise if you’re not a comic reader because then you will probably have no idea what I’m talking about).