#HorribleWaysToStartAStory

post by Michelle Griep

Not only do I teach a high school creative writing class but people crawl out of the woodwork to ask me to read their work. It's pretty rare I get handed a spectacular piece of writing, more common that it's meh, and unfortunately, all too often it's horrible.

Turns out I'm not the only one reading horrific first lines. There's an entire hashtag dedicated to it over at Twitter. Here's a sampling . . .

Earlier, before the explosion that killed everyone, we find our hero...

This is all about how I met your mother's parole officer.

My bowels released like a fiery inferno from the gates of hell

Remember when your goldfish died, and we flushed him down the toilet? Your grandma doesnt fit in the toilet, but . . .

Call me Ishmael, but whatever do you, don't call me late for dinner! Wakawaka!

'What do you mean 'No WiFi for 30 miles?' trembled the blogger.

So if you like looking at train wrecks, pop on over to #HorribleWaysToStartAStory for some spectacular crash and burns.