First drafts are an emotional rollercoaster. They include your deepest, rawest thoughts and feelings, they fill you with excitement, they make you mad and stress you out. And, of course, they are the birth of novels, the starting block of your story. Getting through the first draft fast is the best way to get your story down and move on to polishing it into a proper book. Here are some tops to help you finish your first draft faster:

Follow an outline (even if you’re not a planner)
Having an outline speeds up the process of the first draft, as it shows you where to go next. Rather than getting blocked by not knowing how to begin the next chapter, you’ll have an idea of where you need to go. Of course, there are pros and cons to plotting, and it’s not for everyone. But even if you’re a…