“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”  This was the first line in George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-four, 1949).  Readers understand from this beginning that something must be out of balance; something must be wrong.

Clocks do not strike thirteen.

In writing, as in life, beginnings are everything. Whether we are meeting a protagonist for the first time in chapter one of a new story, or we are meeting a new colleague at a mandatory company meeting, first impressions are…well,…. everything!

And, these first impressions are shaped within…. about 2- 5 seconds.    There are no “re-do’s” in first impressions. 

First lines  mean everything in writing.  The goal is to bedazzle the reader.  Strike her with something so out of the ordinary or unusual that she MUST read on to find out more.

And, this is where I must leave you.  At this new beginning for 2020.

This is my new first “re-beginning” of a bright new year of blogs, after taking a hiatus for far too long last year!

I apologize for the last few months of absence, as I was pre-occupied with other areas of my life.  I know that is no excuse, yet it is all I have to give.

I offer the promise now, to continue with my blog posts every other month from here on through the rest of this year.

And that is my first line of this year; my beginning, for this bright new year ahead of us…. the start of a BRAND NEW decade, which I know will be filled with promise, and hope and faith, and above all else, the absolute love of reading and the unending desire to write… and learn and live…..