The First Line

In a recent episode of the The Tudors, Thomas Tallis, a composer, is speaking with Thomas Wyatt, a poet. Wyatt tells Tallis that he'd like for him to compose some music for a poem he's written. He tells Tallis that he has the first line. Tallis responds by saying, "Then you have almost everything."

I like that. That's the way I feel about writing. If I can get that first line down of a story or a poem then I feel as if I have almost everything because, if nothing else, I've broken through the barrier of the white page and into the kaleidoscope of creativity.