Looking for a Beta/Mentor (urban fantasy, little nervous)

Hi all. I've just started my urban fantasy novel. I think the concept is unique and I'm extremely paranoid about my ideas... as I imagine most new writers are. Basically, I'm looking for unbiased opinions from people that don't love me. I need someone to tell me how bad I suck and what I need to do to fix it. Grammar and sentence structure seem to be my biggest weaknesses right now. Though I'm sure hundreds more will surface before I'm done. At this point, I'm basically vomiting out line after line, but it's a little out of control and I'm worried about staring down a mountain of pages to rewrite and rework.

The story is more or less developed in my head (in it's most basic, stripped down form, of course), and I feel that it is unique(ish). I know the end and the characters are pretty much developed (the main ones anyway).

Anyway... super paranoid and looking for a buddy to bounce ideas off of and tell me how bad I am.

Thanks!

Drachen Jager said:

Get the book Plot & Structure. That's a good starting point at your stage of development. Bouncing ideas off of other people can be helpful but I think it's better to develop a better eye for your own work through ongoing self-education (or teacher-lead education, although personally I find I learn more faster through books).

Click to expand...

I actually posted the first chapter in the Show Your Work forum. It's under "Gulp! Rake me over the coals!"

It's Adult. It's actually an epic story that starts out pretty small in the first book. I have a vision of what I want and two characters developed. I have two chapters and the prologue in draft form right now.