My boys are out camping tonight, so after I put Tinkie to bed I was fully able to give in to my recluse tendencies and spend the last two hours writing, uninterrupted.
In two hours I wrote almost 2500 words. That's pretty good, right?
It is such a ride to write a first draft of a novel. There are so many times I want to stop and edit. I have to literally pull myself away from the keyboard and say, "No! First draft means you keep going! Leave it! I know it sucks and you can write it better if you keep trying! But leave it!"
But then there are other times while I'm writing when I can't believe the things that are coming out of my mind. Characters are instantly created, ones who never existed in my brain but just walk into the story like they were meant to be there the entire time. Plot points that were giving me grief suddenly work themselves out right there on the screen. My protagonist's personality changes in dynamic and gains aspects that I never realized were there.
It's true that sometimes things get meddled as I write it out, too, but the book is shaping and growing as if it has a life of its own, something I just couldn't create in my mind alone, something that needed words to be able to breathe.
It's a strange feeling, empowering yet humbling at the same time.
2500 words in 2 hours is GREAT! And I know what you mean about the words just coming out from who-knows-where. First drafting is a happy time!
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