The first read-through

I spent the past two days reading through my monstrous November Novel, which was an exercise in mostly automatic writing and little plotting. I did that deliberately to discover what, if anything, the characters had to say for themselves.

Naturally, there are passages that make me cringe. There are also lapses of continuity and so on, BUT there are also passages that are very interesting. I was so pleased to discover that some of the exchanges between the characters read very well. They showed distinct personalities and there were many conflicts that arose naturally out of their different world views.

So I have achieved the first step. I have found something to nurture in my little misshapen first draft. The next round is coming up with a macro view of the lay of the land to pinpoint hard research required and the over all structure of the material. The finer points can come later after the first rewrite. I am both exhilarated and a little scared. There is much to learn!