A Chapter Zero is Necessary

I kind of realized a while ago, but it crystallized re-reading what I'd done, as my style's changed, that I really need to introduce Arcadian as a character before the Epic Fantasy Adventure Quest^TM stuff begins. Even something that describes him in situ before the starting adventure kicks off would go a long way.

Anything to turn a narrative-driven, character-dry story into a character-driven story is a step in the right direction, at least when it comes to NEW stories with NEW characters. With established characters, the overarching narrative or brand new settings or new concepts can take the lead on developing stories in directions that readers appreciate (that's the great advantage of fan-fiction, after all). However, with characters unfamiliar to readers, the author has to do some legwork to establish:

• Who they are;
• What they're good at;
• What they're bad at;
• What it is they want;
• How they plan to get it; and
• Why we (the readers) should care.

I think the story hasn't grabbed many readers just because I haven't done the legwork. Nobody knows Arcadian except me, and of course I'm the one who cares: I'm writing him. Nobody else has any good reason to. I've got to give them that reason. Putting yourself in danger and calling yourself a "hero" doesn't make you one, after all; it just makes you reckless, and pompous to boot. That's something Arcadian has to learn, will learn, over the course of the entire story.