"First line" means something different in verse than in prose

[larryhammer]

First lines of works in progress, by way of goosing myself:

Melissa Patterson wanted to kiss the girls, dammit.
(novel I'm supposedly entering revisions for)

The birth went badly. First the mother died,
(poem I'm actually revising)

I leave as night shades: sky no longer black
(still trying to get my January sonnet to work) (ETA: done, though some lines need polish)

Elena of Morrin topped the ridge and looked down the valley at the keep -- her keep.
(novel I'm returning to drafting once I finish #1)

The war was going badly. From the start,
(poem I'm returning to drafting once I finish #2)

Plus a Sekrit Project, and a couple YAs and picture books still untouched from the last time I went "baaa!"

Though what I want to know is whether a Greek myth sex farce short story in formal verse is interstitial or cross-genre. And does the answer change if you toss in a giant pig? How do you tell the difference between interstitial and cross-genre, anyway?

---L.

Comments

[oracne.livejournal.com]

How do you tell the difference between interstitial and cross-genre, anyway?

Presence or absence of a giant pig? Or a duck.

[larryhammer]

So ... if it's as light as a duck, that means it's a witch? Er, I mean, it's which?

---L.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

Nobody knows. That's why it's interstitial.

[larryhammer]

So, the first Myrmidon tale has neither giant pig nor a duck. The second has the pig but still no duck. I'm revising the third, which also has the pig in spirit -- or at least in hide -- so there's still time to add a duck. The fourth can't have the pig, but if I include a duck, that covers all the permutations needed for this test.

But no giant ducks. I can't do that with a straight face.

---L.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

But no giant ducks. I can't do that with a straight face.

Ah, well. Maybe later.

[larryhammer]

Well, unless you count Leda's swan as a giant duck. Waterfowl, anyway.

---L.

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

How do you tell the difference between interstitial and cross-genre, anyway?

Seems to depend on who you ask.

(If you ask me? You don't.)

[larryhammer]

I do ask. Don't or can't?

---L.

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

As far as I can tell, 'interstitial' is code for 'cross-genre or not-so-cross-genre work that we like.'

[larryhammer]

That's more or less my conclusion.

---L.

[paulakate.livejournal.com]

You call it whichever is favoreed by the ditor to whom you are submitting. If s/he thinks "interstitial" is pretentious, then go with "genre-bending" or the like...

[larryhammer]

"For you, it's a desert topping, not a floor wax."

---L.