(no subject)

[pirate-mousie.livejournal.com]

Greetings shiny new member here and for my inaugural post let me just say that it's very awesome to have found a writing community that also seems to focus on the discussion of writing rather than solely people posting their work. And so in celebration of this I give you one of the most recent things I've written and a query.

First a summary, I suppose.

Art may be food for the soul, but to feed their bodies, a group of artists, writers, and musicians ally themselves with a man named Christophe. Christophe leads them far from the bright innocence they began with, keeping them firmly under his thumb and forcing them to mix their art with hard drugs and shady dealings--and not in the Oscar Wilde way. Four years after first meeting Christophe and falling prey to his wiles, Armand, the hypothetical leader of this group, wakes to rainfall, piano music, and disaster.

This may or may not be an excuse to write purplish-prose in present tense. Warnings include implied drug use, vague m/m relationships, and the afore mentioned purple-tinted writing style. This has been unbeta'd, so if you notice anything that needs fixing from grammar to syntax to style to flow, don't hesitate to let me know. There is a prologue, but I don't think it's necessary to have read it. This is 1,121 words

Rhapsody in Red
( Exposition - The first section of a movement written in sonata form, introducing the melodies and themes. )

And now the query.

Every time I get to at least the second chapter of something, the doubt starts to set in. Will anyone like it? Is the plot too fantastic? Should I simplify? Would that cheapen it? Will anyone understand if I don't? Will it still be interesting if I do? Does it even make any sense? Is anyone going to call me on my BS?

It's not as bad with this one as with some of my other pieces, but still. My plots tend to be a bit on the wild side. Part of me still hasn't outgrown the phase where you want to put a dragon in EVERYTHING even if it makes absolutely no sense (no, that does not mean there will be a dragon in this).

So, what do you guys think? Is there ever a point where you begin to second guess yourself? What do you do when that happens?