Frankie:0 First Chapter:1

UGH! UGH! UGH! I've been sitting here for the last few hours going over my first chapter for The Seven Sisters Brandywine, trying to figure out a different way of writing it and getting my point across, but so far no ideas spring to mind. All I know is that this version of the chapter born last June was once beloved by me, and now I kind of hate it. I'm not sure why. I think it's all in my opening paragraph, it feels forced to me and I'm not quite yet sure what to do about it.

Of course, this chapter has come a very very very long way since my original prologue, which I did kind of love despite knowing it was incredibly problematic. I'm hoping to get some inspiration for a new way to open the book. The book opening always seems to be the place I stumble around the most and then tend to wallow in. I just have a hard time moving forward when I don't have the clearest sense possible of where I'm begining. At least I know that J.K. Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkein had the same problems. Apparently JK rewrote the very first chapter about 50 times. And Tolkein had to restart the LOTR several times (but that was mostly because he never plotted out what he was doing).

At least I know where I want to go and have a pretty decent draft and really detailed and intricate revision plan. Let's just hope that this current frustration over forced opening sentences that don't capture the enchantment I feel with this story passes and quickly so I can get on writing.

On a positive note, I typed up all of my creative writing exercises today and I am really quite pleased with them. It's probably keeping me from freaking out completely over this chapter at the moment, though after all of this time writing, I've come to learn that things work themselves out in a way that you don't always expect, and unfortunately, in a timeline you are not always counting on. Anyway, that is my mini-rant for the day, and I hope to report back soon able to say that I'm winning or have at least evened the score.