Howdy,
Exciting news! This morning I finished the rough draft of my current WIP, a YA fantasy. This is really amazing, I knocked out this draft in three months. That's by far the fastest I've ever banged out the first draft of a novel. BAM!
Back in January 2019, I set myself the goal to start a new novel-length project. Mind you, my goal was to begin the project …not in my wildest dreams did I imagine I'd complete the first draft. I was in the throes of what I called the Arduous Edit on my previous fantasy story. At the time, I felt like I'd be lucky to finish editing that piece and that starting a new novel-length project was aspirational, a stretch goal. Well, it all worked out better than expected.
How did I write the draft so fast (at least for me)? I think much of it has to do with the time I spent editing my previous work. I learned scads about my writing and writing in general, especially the finer points of characterization. Anyway, I think that served me well in writing my current rough draft. I knew what to look out for. Now, on to the editing… I guess I'm about to learn if I scribbled out the right words or not.