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I did it!

I finished the dreaded first draft of my new project from conception to completion in six months. In the past, the quickest I’ve written one was a year, and that was when I was in high school. Most recently, it took about eighteen months, but that doesn’t include the several years of research I did before the writing actually began.

What was the difference this time around?

Well, I gave permission to “let it go.” I allowed my writing to be less than perfect just to get it down. Yes, it’s something I’ve read about many times: everyone’s first draft is junk. I’d like to think my first drafts weren’t too bad, but then again, pouring over them for a year—or two or three—makes for lots of little edits before completion. (And, yes, they were all still edited dozens of times after that.)

This time, the story is there in all its ugly glory.

I used to think the first draft was the hardest and revision/editing the easiest, but this time around, I believe my opinion will change. I’ve got my work cut out for me when I mend THE UNRAVELING THREADS OF KYNDRA FIELDS.

How do you write: quick and messy or slow and ponderous?