After more substantial editing, chapter one is now 50% more compelling.  I’m pretty sure that’s mathematically accurate.

With the way I wrote the initial draft, chapter one was more of a brainstorming session than anything else.  It provided the layout of a city, some background information as to the society and how certain characters relate to each other, but it didn’t have much of a hook.   On subsequent edits, I added more dialogue and humor, and removed what I perceived to be excessive description.  Now, I’ve tossed in the “oh schnaps” moment that seems like a requisite for chapter one in YA fiction.  The current incarnation of this chapter looks nothing like the original.

Anyway, I’ll try to refrain from super mundane posts about writing in the future.  It’s hard to resist when the blog is still new and shiny.