I am there right now. The demons all carry copies of Strunk’s Elements of Style, and they’re poking me with fountain pens.
At this point, I have written something like five different variations on the opening of the Novel, and I still can’t seem to get it right. My latest effort was written at four in the morning, because writing just seems to be easier when I’m sleep deprived.
Am I getting there? I don’t know. Maybe. A friend told me that I’d never get published if only because I’d never be happy with it, and I’d never stop trying to make it better. What I have now – which is the first chapter, more or less – reads like I want it to read. It starts with action. I have to start as I mean to continue, at least. BUT IS IT GOOD, my head is screaming… I think it is, sort of, but admittedly I’m not the best judge here.
I can see pacing is going to be a problem. This is fantasy adventure, I keep telling myself – it has to be fast, but I still need to tell the story in the middle of it.
I’m slightly worried that people will read it and think it’s more steampunk than fantasy. That’s just a quirk of the first chapter, because it happens to be set in a big steel tower.
Gah, I’ll have to show it to someone eventually…