So, after a vigorous internal debate I did not rearrange the structure of the beginning quite as drastically as I first thought. No matter what I tried the new structure just threw up a whole set of problems of its own. So instead, I tried to work out what was so wrong with it, why I thought I needed to change it in the first place.

The beginning just felt too repetitive. Why was that? I’d already condescend four chapters into two and sliced off a lot of the excess fat. So I wrote a little list, very shorthand ‘what is happening in the opening chapters’ and there it was, in black and white (well, in blue ink and green lined paper). The setting was so… same-y. Even though things were actually happening, it didn’t feel that way, because it all looked the bloody same. And why would I do that to myself? There’s a whole world to explore and they keep ending up in a bloody sewer!

So today I completely changed the setting of the second scene and boy, did it make a difference! Opened up new conflicts, provided room for some sorely-needed characterisation, and most of all it got rid of that slow, repetitive feeling that was irritating me to much. I just hope I’m as enthusiastic about this the next time I read it :p

On to chapter three tomorrow (once known as chapter five…)

In other news I finished Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book tonight and just loved it. This will be one of those books I read over and over. You know, comfort books.