Hot damn! I think I just figured out how chapter one of my novel should begin. Not the exact words, but a vague sketch of the first paragraph anyway. It's actually perfect for opening the story. I've had it floating around in the back of my mind for a while now, but for some fool reason, it never occured to me to open with it.

I've been doing pretty well writing scenes in the middle of the novel the past couple weeks, but it would sure feel good to get the beginning finished one of these days.

In other writing news, I actually played hooky from the novel last night to further engage my obsessive-compulsive mapmaking fetish. This time it's for my friend Scott's new D&D campaign. First a port city and, when that's done, a continent map.