The good times keep on rolling

Had another really good day yesterday, wherein I actually wrote about 2,000 words, but did enough adjusting in the process that I actually had a net gain of 1,889 by the time all was said and done. So I am now a solid 15% done with the first draft!

But the exciting thing is that what I did yesterday felt so good. While the genre of this novel is contemporary fantasy, it is also comedic, and the scene I was working on yesterday was especially heavy on the comedy. Writing it was an absolute blast! When I finished, I texted a friend to say "I hope this scene is as funny as I think it is." She later read it and declared that it was, indeed, funny, so I have more or less independent confirmation.

I can only hope that this trend of feeling good about the writing will continue, although it's a double-edged sword; whenever I feel so wholeheartedly enthusiastic, I begin to wonder if I'm losing perspective, which leads to suspicion that the writing isn't as good as I think it is, which then triggers a certainty that it's not, and so on and so forth. You'd think there'd be a good medication for this, wouldn't you?

Oh well, since there isn't, I will just have to soldier on the best that I can, chemically unassisted. One thing I've noticed is that talking openly on this blog about my various neuroses has dampened some of their power over me, so if you really hate that about this blog, you're gonna want to either quit reading or learn to enjoy neurotic ramblings!

Today, I have another scene to write that will cap off the events of yesterday's scene, and the scene after that is, I think, where the "first act" or "beginning" of this story will end. I know the situation I want to have created by the end of the beginning, and I need to re-plot the climax of the story based on some of the inspiration overload I alluded to in yesterday's blog. Once I do that, I will need to plot the "middle of the story" in a little more detail, as up to now, I have only mapped that out in the most basic shapes until now.

I should probably be worried that I haven't plotted the middle in much detail, but honestly, the characters are coming to life to such a degree that the plot is just springing up to meet me as I type. I have a basic outline of several events that I need to happen to get me to the climax, and I have faith that the details are going to be there when I start to plot the middle again, which I will probably do after I write today's scene.

Interestingly, I find that it's really difficult for me to stop writing until I have finished a particular scene. This is why I'm blowing past my self-imposed quota of 500 words a day--no scene is only 500 words, and I feel very anxious if I try to stop writing before the scene is finished. I think it's because I don't want to risk breaking the flow. If the scene weren't going well, I might not mind quitting at 500 words and trying it again the next day.

But so far, at least, that hasn't happened. Keep your fingers crossed that things keep flowing like this for me straight through to the end of the first draft!