Why is the first chapter the most difficult chapter to write? Do you feel the same way or am I the only one? I agonize over the first sentence and the first paragraph and everything in between until I reach the ending and wonder if I have placed a sufficient hook.
Today I spent five hours writing a first chapter. I wrote a first draft, rewrote it, and kept poking at it. By the end of the day I still wasn’t happy with what I had produced.
I was supposed to finalize it to show to a friend in the morning. And by morning I mean eight hours from now. I should probably sleep. It’s 2 AM and I’m supposed to meet her at 10 AM.
Any other day, I would talk into a microphone, transcribe it, and edit it at a later date. I still agonize over that first chapter but it’s not as stressful. This time it’s different. I want to get into a story bundle so I’m putting a lot more pressure on myself to get that first chapter just right.
If there’s anything I’ve learned from my past is that I do worse when I put more effort into something. I know, it’s weird. I overthink things and the magic disappears with all my second-guessing and editing.
I should have salvaged the first draft of that first chapter.
I’m going to start over again tomorrow. Start from scratch and let the words flow, and then give that to her and see what she thinks of it.