One thing that’s pretty great about the community of writers (or at least, the tiny sliver of that community I’ve been exposed to so far) is that writers generally default to being super supportive of each other.
I’ve already mentioned – I listen to some writing podcasts. I’ve got two on constant rotation, and have dipped my toes into several others.
All the folks running these podcasts, guest-appearing on these podcasts, and otherwise trying to help out the noobies are very consistent about certain things. One of them is the drumbeat of “Finish your first novel. Just FINISH IT. Don’t judge it, don’t expect perfection from it, just FINISH IT.” (Paraphrased, obviously.)
I’ve failed to finish attempts at writing a novel at several prior times in my life, often barely getting started. That continuous encouragement from such a wide array of people was truly invaluable.
What I always took from the “finish your book” advice was essentially just that. Get it finished. Bask in the sense of accomplishment. Experience another step in the process that will take you from idea to eventual publication. BUT, very nearly immediately after moving from outlining to writing for my second novel, I realized there was something else.
For the first novel, even when I was more than halfway through, with a proper outline, pretty decent habits in place as far as making the time for writing, and the beginnings of something resembling confidence in my writing, there was a semi-conscious feeling that never let up. “Will I finish this?“
For this second novel, that doubt is no longer there. And it’s a little surprising how that changes the flavor of writing a first draft, at least for me. It’s just subtly more fun, subtly less intimidating, subtly a more relaxed experience. As you may have sussed out, it’s subtle.
But it’s also pervasive.
The entire experience just feels lighter when you have complete certainty that, at the very least, finishing won’t be a problem.
I’m not sure what anyone can do with that info. I can only say that writing the second one is more unabashedly fun than the first one was, for me, and I hope that’s true for others as well.
Maybe I can only say, “Get that first one done, so you get to the ‘unabashedly fun’ bits sooner.”