Today, I had a productive morning, thanks to an extra hour to write with the rest of the family not waking up yet. I got over 1000 words written (not great for an hour and a half, but not bad given my pace so far) and not only finished that scene that I’d left in somewhat of a mess, but also closed it with the Inciting Incident, so I’m feeling pretty good.
Compared to my first attempt at this story, I think I am doing much better this time. My hero is driving the action so far in each scene and they are all focused on her and her issues. I have avoided the trap of having her be just an observer to a political drama in the kingdom, though I am trying to keep that going in the background.
A lot of the story is still in my hero’s head, so far, as she tries to deal with her situation, but with the inciting incident, everything that she has been worried about so far is no longer a mental exercise and she will now be dealing with constant action, so that should help pick up the pace. I also introduced my first other main character, the taciturn mentor (though he is drunk and talkative in his first appearance) and am a couple scenes away from bringing in the other main member of the party, the suave, sarcastic best friend character, who is either going to be a lot of fun to write, or a nightmare, since I am not suave and don’t know how to be. (Sarcastic, I can do!)