Thoughts on Part 1

Well Part 1 has been up for a while now and while I'm working on Part 2 I figured I might share some thoughts about this first installment.

The reality is, I don't like it very much. However, I knew that if I waited for something I liked I would never have posted anything. Ever.

I put a lot of hours into it and am very grateful to Neil Wile, a friend of mine in publishing, for his help and feedback which brought it to the point that at least allowed me to post it. Some of you may be thinking that I'm putting too much investment into what is, essentially, fan fiction. However, I wanted to write something that was of a more professional standard than a lot of the fan fiction I've read. Something that payed attention to story structure, language, punctuation and some of the do's and don't's of storytelling.

I've realised a couple of things in this process, first of all it has occured to me that posting the story in parts takes away from the flow of the story and might well make it harder for you, the reader, to get into it. This is why I'm considering getting parts 2 and 3 ready to be posted in quick succession. The only problem is when I think about how long part 1 took me to get to a standard I could live with, I worry that in the time it will take me to get the next two parts done any interest that may have existed will be lost. In retrospect in might have been smarter to post the story in two halves rather than, approximately, 6 parts of around 1500 words per part.

One of the things that Neil, in his infinite wisdom, was telling me was the difference between telling and showing in a story. I have tried to implement it in the work you see below but I recognise that future installments need to be more about showing and less about telling the reader what's happening and why. About showing you my characters and their story rather than explaining to the reader what's what. I hope to improve upon that in the parts to come.

Another thing that has really bothered me and has, perhaps, become apparent to you is that I have yet to describe my protagonist! I have a very clear picture in my mind of what he looks like and his life story and personality but have not yet found the place to put it in there in a way that feels natural. I know how I'm going to get his description into part 2 (a teensy bit cliched) and from reading other stories (a lot!) I also know that this is something I can get away with. I hope. What I'm not certain of is how much of his background is relevant to the story and perhaps might best be saved for future adventures. This story is, I think, meant to be part action, part character portrait and his background will come as a surprise to many. I don't want to give too much away about where the story is going but suffice it to say that the many options for moving it forward are slowing me down. I need to make some decisions and get on with it. I can always change my mind in the rewrites.

I know that the story as it stands has not attracted much in the way of readers or feedback for that matter but for the moment I am content to continue while the process challenges and inspires me. I hope that for the few that have read it there remains a curiosity about what happens next...I'll try not to keep you waiting too long. Thanks for reading.