City High - Chapter One!

So, a while ago I wrote about my discovery of FictionPress. It's just like Fanfiction.com, but for original work.

Ever since I found it, I've been toying with the idea of posting a story there. I mentioned in that same post about my stories that aren't publishable for various reasons, but I really enjoyed them and wanted to share them anyway.

So last night I was scouring my folder of stories, and I found my story I affectionately named City High. (I don't know why I called it that--I think I'd been listening to that song "Sugar High" a lot.) It's one I could never publish because it deals with murder and crime and police--all things I know very little about. So I started reading through it, and thought, "You know... I could probably post this one... But it needs a lot of editing..."

Fast-forward several hours, and chapter one was ready. I stared at it, hesitant and afraid, and finally said, "Hell. I'll just do it. If nothing else, I can add it to my Stories page on my blog." So I signed into my FictionPress account and then froze.

I didn't have a story summary.

If you know me at all, you know I suck at summaries. I don't know why. I just really do. I can't capture attention in a few short paragraphs. I can't summarize what I'm writing. But I started writing out a summary (I usually go through about fifteen drafts of a summary/blurb) and to my surprise, it flowed quite easily. I was pretty pleased with it. I had to shorten it quite a bit to fit inside the 255 character limit for summaries on FictionPress, but it worked out fairly well.

So then I added chapter one to the story, and hit, "Publish."

Now, there's an inherent danger here. You'll notice I said I only edited chapter one. I hate posting stories before the entire thing is done. What if I want to change the plot/characters halfway through? I'd have written myself into a corner! But luckily, I've had this story sitting around for forever, and I'm pretty sure the overarching plot isn't going to change. (It can't, really, it's the plot.)

So chapter one is live, and now I'm waiting with eager anticipation to see if anyone reads it. Most of the time when I post a story, it takes about three or four chapters to really get readers--and then more show up as time progresses. I think that's why they say writer's are in it for the long-haul, and it's not a sprint it's a marathon.

If you're interested, you can read the summary and find the link to chapter one on the Stories page above. If you do, happy reading! <3