Share your first three sentences

[Allan Writer]

It makes a good image, but I would switch things around a bit. Also, flickering means waving, and I think the flames of burning buildings would be more violent - maybe roaring?

His Majesty's Ship Maasai edged into harbour, lit only by the roaring flames of burning buildings. The town of Kalamata had the look of hell, against the dark, moonless night sky.

Great suggestion, and normally I would agree.
What you don't get in these opening sentences is this is a situation that has been building for days.

The fires my character is seeing have been started six hours or more before in daylight air attacks. So the first conflagration has been either put out or is being let burn out in some buildings.
It is the tail end of the fires the character is seeing. More of that kind of detail will appear further down the page!

 

[Naomasa298]

For sure.
And I do allow my characters to "tell."
But even building first person I have my characters "show" when I can (depending on the character).
When I can I would rather have a character describe a terrifying event, and the response that raises in them than having them say "I was afraid."

The point being that no writing "rule" is absolute, and available tools should be used when appropriate, not discarded out of hand because of dogma.

 

[Allan Writer]

The point being that no writing "rule" is absolute, and available tools should be used when appropriate, not discarded out of hand because of dogma.

I am with you on being dogmatic. Writing rules are made to be broken. That does not mean they have no utility.

 

[DLC]

New version.
Lit only by the flicker of flames in burning buildings, His Majesty’s Ship Maasai edged into harbor. The town of Kalamata had a hellish feel. The moon had set an hour before, so the flames just made the night darker.

It's way better. The middle isn't too short. Or anything, for what it is.