Friday, May 12, 2017

And Then The Murders Began

A writer a few weeks ago put forth the idea that any book would be improved if the following were added after the first sentence of every book:

And then the murders began. 

For example: 

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. And then the murders began. 

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. And then the murders began. 

In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains. And then the murders began. 

See? It's FUN! And it's even MORE fun with children's books!



But will this work for news stories? Let's find out!

Below are opening sentences from four stories posted on the NBC News website yesterday evening.  


The new GOP health care bill does almost nothing to address some of the biggest health care issues troubling Americans, many experts agree. And then the murders began. 

The Dow Jones could be headed for its biggest daily drop in four weeks, after weak tech and retail earnings took their toll on Wall Street.  And then the murders began. 

The Senate Intelligence Committee has requested information about President Donald Trump and his top aides from a financial intelligence unit in the Treasury Department that imposed a $10 million civil penalty on Trump Taj Mahal in 2015 for multiple violations of anti-money laundering laws.  And then the murders began. 

President Donald Trump defended the delay in firing former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn in exclusive interview on Thursday with NBC News' Lester Holt.  And then the murders began. 

Oddly enough, adding the phrase seems disturbingly appropriate for these stories. 



OK, that's enough from me for today. Until next time, remember to be good to one another.  And then the murders began. 

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