Chapter 1 done. · 1:09pm Mar 6th, 2013
The first draft of Chapter 1 is complete! I also have a few scenes from the second and third chapter written, so in total I now have about 9,000 words of the story done. I still don't have a title: I'm likely going to leave that until I get the first wave of pre-reader feedback. 90% chance it'll be named after the pro-alicorn side, which means "Transequinism", "Transponyism", or "Alicornism".
I'm working very very hard on not being too critical of my first draft. I have two small scenes near the end of the first chapter that I don't know if I like. One doesn't really further the story at all, and the other is fairly similar to another scene I have later. I like the whole "slice of life" scenes between the larger scenes, but I'm not sure if I want to keep these. That said, I've decided that's what pre-readers are for. I've already proven to myself that I can't trust my own assessments. (I tend to think my stuff is "okay" at best, then it gets great reception. This may only apply to comedy though, we'll have to wait and see.)
Things to do before I post:
Write the first three chapters. (Probably around 50% complete.)
Come up with a vague outline for the next 2-4 chapters.
Polish up the first three chapters a bit.
Send them off to pre-readers.
Fix the chapters based on pre-reader feedback. Send them back again if they sucked too much.
Post!
It's going to take a fair bit of time, but before posting, I want to make sure I've written enough that I'm not too likely to abandon the project, and to make sure it's of good quality.
I'll likely send out a call for pre-readers in the Less Wrong group when Chapter 3 is mostly complete, which at my current pace should be anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks from now. I'm not going to put myself on a tight schedule: I write when I'm feeling in the right condition to do so. I'd rather write slowly and write a good story. The important part is knowing how to do that in moderation so I don't get stuck constantly tweaking, plotting, analysing, or anything that isn't actually writing things.
The most important part of writing is getting the words onto the page. I must never forget that.
Thanks for reading!
-Salivanth.
