美国国家公共电台 NPR The Stories All Start The Same Way In 'The First Line'

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

I saw a magazine in the rack of City Lights bookstore in San Francisco that showed a single sheet in a typewriter with a sentence that began, the plan suddenly made sense. Eight stories followed all beginning with those words. "The First Line" is a literary quarterly that feature stories and poems submitted from around the world. But they all have to have the same first line concocted¹ by the staff of the magazine - staff of two, I gather. "The First Line" appeared in 1999. David Labounty is the founder² and publisher along with his wife Robin³ Labounty. He joins us from Dallas. Thanks so much for being with us Mr. Publisher.

DAVID LABOUNTY: Thank you for having us.

SIMON: And how did this start?

LABOUNTY: Well, about 20 years ago, we were thinking about doing a literary magazine because at the time there weren't too many journals out there for new writers. There weren't many literary journals at all during that time. And so we stumbled upon an idea that we had started with one of our friends from college where he had given me a first line to start a story. And then I would write the story. And then I would send it to him. And I'd give him a first line. And he would start a story. And he would send that back to me. And we did that. And so we decided⁴ that we'd open that up to the rest of the world.

SIMON: How many stories do you typically get?

LABOUNTY: We run between 300 and 450 submissions⁵ in issue.

SIMON: Oh, it's pretty good. To give people an example, one of your first stories begins, the plan suddenly made sense. The result of last evening's storm cascaded⁶ below with a roar. That's from Nancy Thorne who's a writer in Widby, Ontario. What makes a good first line do you think?

LABOUNTY: It's interesting. The first line is something that needs to grab you, something that makes you want to go on to the next line. It can be - a first line can be rather long and fill you with a lot of information. Or it can be very short and just snatch you right away. For us, over the years, we've realized that it's the second line because the first line we've been with for so long. We know the first line. It's - most of the time, we've had them for over a year. So it's the second line that actually becomes our first line. And that's the one that has to grab us.

SIMON: Oh. All right, so another one I wrote down, Todd Young - apparently⁷, the pen name of a writer in New York. The plan suddenly made sense. He follows up with, no, not the one where I jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. That's a good second line, isn't it?

LABOUNTY: (Laughter) Exactly.

SIMON: What have some of your favorite first lines been over the years?

LABOUNTY: Oh, we've had so many. It's hard to pick. It's like when we're at a book festival, someone will ask us, you know, what's your favorite one? Which one should I buy? It's always like, you know, picking your favorite child. A long time ago, we had one that was, life would be so much easier if I were a cartoon character. That one really stuck out with me. And then one that we got very few submissions for - it was a very hard issue to put together, but it was one of my favorite first lines. When my brother Andrew went away to college, he left me his fishing pole, a well-read copy of "The Wind In The Willows⁸" and a stack of Playboys.

SIMON: That's a great one. I love that. But I can see where it's difficult to...

LABOUNTY: Exactly. It was very hard to write to that one.

SIMON: What's the first line for the next contest?

LABOUNTY: It's a quote. So you have to use quotes. Its, I'm tired of trying to see the good in people.

SIMON: That's a good one. May I suggest one for future use?

LABOUNTY: You bet.

SIMON: OK. The rope broke in my hands.

LABOUNTY: The rope broke in my hands. I'm writing that down right now.

(LAUGHTER)

SIMON: That's good to know I could be of some use. Dave LaBounty of "The First Line." Thanks so much for being with us.

LABOUNTY: Thank you, sir.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAURA VEIRS SONG, "I CAN SEE YOUR TRACKS")

1 concocted   

v.将（尤指通常不相配合的）成分混合成某物( concoct的过去式和过去分词 )；调制；编造；捏造

参考例句：

• The soup was concocted from up to a dozen different kinds of fish. 这种汤是用多达十几种不同的鱼熬制而成的。
• Between them they concocted a letter. 他们共同策划写了一封信。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

3 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 submissions   

n.提交( submission的名词复数 )；屈从；归顺；向法官或陪审团提出的意见或论据

参考例句：

• The deadline for submissions to the competition will be Easter 1994. 递交参赛申请的截止时间为1994年的复活节。 来自辞典例句
• Section 556(d) allows the agency to substitute written submissions for oral direct testimony in rulemaking. 第五百五十六条第（四）款准允行政机关在规则制定中用书面提交材料替代口头的直接证言。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

6 cascaded   

级联的

参考例句：

• His money cascaded away in a couple of years. 他的钱在三两年内便滚滚流失了。
• The water cascaded off the roof in the thunderstorm. 雷雨中水象瀑布一样从屋顶泻下。

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 willows   

n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木

参考例句：

• The willows along the river bank look very beautiful. 河岸边的柳树很美。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Willows are planted on both sides of the streets. 街道两侧种着柳树。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》