Words

So. I've tried to start actual writing on Chapter One this week. Four failed attempts. I did everything, and I do mean *everything* you're not supposed to do. I was cringing over each word choice, correcting spelling, had to go back and add in a specific word or two because it made the sentence pop and I'd forget about it if I waited a week. And then I gave up because it was terrible - atrocious, really - and started over.

I redid the damn thing four times with four completely different openings. Each time I started, I just got the feeling that it wasn't the right place; something felt way out of line each time.

So I backed up a step. My new plan was to list out everything that logically was going to happen for that event: I wanted an itinerary for my MC. From that list of events, I would choose where to actually start the story.

Well, about five or so steps in, I suddenly got an image of the scene. I immediately stopped my listing exercise and started writing. My fingers just took off for the most part. I only got 470+ words out of it, and they're not perfect, but I don't hate them.

They're all narrative right now; a descriptive tour as the reader follows the MC through a building. But they do lead right up to a dozen men breaking through windows and attacking a group of party-goers.