The Doppelgänger Diaries: The First Draft

I hope you’re all doing well. I’m starting a series called ‘The Doppelgänger Diaries’ detailing my recent book writing experience. As you know, I’m in the process of editing my new book, The Doppelgänger. The book is a psychological thriller and will be out in late March. For more details such as book covers and free chapters, subscribe to my newsletter. 
This writing series will consist of five posts, published on Fridays. Today’s post will detail the emotional and physical process I went through to complete my first draft. Writing this book has been a journey, and I hope through these posts, I can take you on that journey with me.
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I began writing the first draft of The Doppelgänger in July 2015. I wrote 15,000 words and shelved it. I had a basic idea, but it wasn't well-developed. It needed time to develop in my brain.
I returned to the draft in November while looking for new book ideas for Nanowrimo. I had set my mind on completing a book in November 2015. I didn’t officially register for the event, but my target was to complete the first draft of my book by the end of the month. So, instead of starting something new, I continued writing The Doppelgänger. 
I did the math first. I set a goal of 2,500 words each day. The completed first draft was supposed to be 60,000 words. The first draft consisted of 24 chapters, 2,500 words each.  I wrote ten to twelve each night because that time slot works well for me.
Shortly before starting the book, I read Stephen King’s On Writing. I reviewed the book here. His work ethic inspired me to stick to a schedule. I would highly recommend the book to any aspiring author. 

The first draft of The Doppelganger is the most challenging thing I’ve ever written. I didn’t plot this book so; I didn’t know where I was going with the story. Every time I looked at a blank page, doubts swallowed me. I read a lot of motivational posts online, meditated, read positive affirmations and visualized the result to keep myself on track. When all that didn’t work, I resorted to listening to depressing ballads. 
But, I wrote every day. No matter how I felt, I wrote those 2,500 words every night. When I sat before the computer screen 10-12 every night, I lost myself in the story. All I could think of was the character and her life. 
There were days I was frustrated because of things I couldn't control- Somebody or other would show up without warning; I'd fall sick or I'd have to go somewhere. However, deep inside, I had the burning desire to finish my novel, and that pulled me through. 
By the twentieth day, I had a 60,000-word manuscript.  I can’t express how relieved I was to have completed the first draft. I saved a copy of it and put it away. I didn't want to look at it until the end of that week. 

Thus began my romance novel binge. For the next seven days, I read legions of romance novels, watched every romantic comedy I had missed and spaced out.  Those days of reading were sheer bliss, and I enjoyed every minute of it.
In my head, I worked through the plot holes in my manuscript. Every time I remembered a plot hole, I wrote it down. I also began reading articles on self-editing, rewriting, etc. I'll tell you more about that in the next post. 
For now, I want to say that the experience was transformative. I feel like a brand new person now. Each day, I overcame my resistance and pushed myself harder. When I saw the completed manuscript, I realized that two hours every day added up to a novel in a month. I did a little 'happy dance' when I finished the first draft and filmed it to remember the journey. 


That's all for today. The next article in this series is about my second draft. I know, being a writer isn't as romantic as movies make it look. However, I endeavor to be honest in my posts because the truth is the best version of events. 
If you have any suggestions or questions, drop me an e-mail or comment below. I look forward to hearing from you all.Click here to read more articles on writingSubscribe to my newsletter for a free short story and updates.  #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */Subscribe to our mailing list