Well, I started the novel today. Let me just tell you: this morning sucked. Hammering out that first 700 words was painful. It didn’t come easily. My characters felt stiff. Too many unanswered questions kept coming to mind and I didn’t seem able to answer them on the fly.
When I read it over it read like crap. It should read like crap because it’s a first draft, but it felt especially bad.
I hit it again later in the day, adding a few forgotten details to the opening and correcting a few things, and then kept moving forward. I was able to brainstorm today and firm some things up. Tonight I managed to write 500 more words than I needed to and it feels better. It’s still difficult, but it feels a lot better than it did this morning.
It’s amazing how much stuff you have to make up. My usual fear of having to change what I create is slowing my down, but I’m starting to decide on things and stick with it.
And the support has been great. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to include the requested ninjas, but we’ll see. Thanks.