I'm nine-and-a-half chapters in, over a hundred pages, and still going strong. I have five-and-a-half chapters left to go before I'm done. Then I will put it aside, and start something new. I don't know what, yet, but I hope it will occupy my time so I unwind and disconnect from the novel. Then, I will go back and edit the hell out of it.
This first draft stage is the (as a writer friend of mine says) "Junk It Through" stage. It's just supposed to be crap, and written as crap. None of the words are supposed to stay, scenes can be rewritten and reordered. As with any draft though, I have to RUE (Resist the Urge to Explain) every little detail about the world. Thankfully, I can do that with my blog ;-)
Blogging about the backstories and histories and cultures helps me to categorize them and acts (for me) as a fact-checker. This way, I can't contradict myself, and am able to keep things consistent. That's another thing I see in some novels. Some writers don't keep consistency within their own work. This speaks as unprofessional and turns the reader off. Not editing a book/novel also does the same.
I write to show people the worlds I create. If I wanted to tell you about them, it would be like a history book; flat and boring and stale. Granted, some people love history. Good for them. I don't and probably never will enjoy history.
