So today I am still going to focus mainly on finishing the first chapter. But I’ve been debating whether or not to share an excerpt with you lovely readers for a few days now, and I still haven’t come to a satisfying conclusion. In fact, wondering which part to share of this chapter has made me even reconsider if this piece is really a first chapter at all, or if I need to use it another way.
Here is my pros and cons list of sharing so far:
Pros:
- Actually sharing a part of my story, which is what this blog is supposed to be all about
- Possibly getting feedback, however minor
- Introducing people to my writing style, and the world and characters of Finding Dragons
Cons:
- It’s a rough first draft so there are probably tons of mistakes/bad choices/things to fix in post
- It’s the opening chapter, but it doesn’t involve the actual main characters just yet (but it is an important character from later)
- Would I be giving too much away, will people still want to read the book later if they’ve read early drafts online?
It’s that lovely #2 con that brought me up short when I first sat down to write this post. If the first chapter doesn’t involve the main characters, it’s really more of a prologue, right? And do I want to be the “prologue” type? Can’t I find some other way of transmitting this information, not only to my readers, but perhaps to my readers through my actual main characters? Hmm.
Decisions, decisions. I’d be happy for any other writers to share their advice on the subject in the comments, if you feel so inclined. For now, I’ll just leave you with another cute dragon from my favorite Etsy store, How Many Dragons? She looks like she’s thinking about it too!
Writing Dragons 