How to get that first draft done

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I’m currently about a quarter of the way through writing a novel. I am fighting the temptation to keep reading back and editing along the way, which is how I generally get in a stalemate with myself.
Any tips for just getting the first draft down? I’ve got myself hung up on chapters at the moment, which doesn’t really matter I know, as I can sort that later.

Any tips for this stage?

Just write. It doesn’t matter if it is just odd paragraphs. You can always cut and paste later. Do you have a set time for writing? Make a rule about how many words you will write each day. Leave yourself a note when you finish of what you want to write next time. Writing is hard and you have to work at it.

I bought a Freewrite for this reason - it means I can’t go back and edit (at least not more than a backspace). It’s freed me up to just get the first draft out - even if it’s full of notes to myself about what to change later etc. A typewriter would work the same, but it’s not digital

I'm struggling as well. Got it in my head to attempt to write a novel, I've got two paragraphs down. I think what you're doing is a good way to do it

Just write. Write every day. If you have an idea for a novel, I always think a good rule of thumb is - write it all, empty your head if it all. Then go back and start polishing your first draft. Second draft, iron out all the inconsistencies in plot, errors in who said what, timeline mistakes etc. Then it's time for the third, and hopefully, final, draft where you do your final polish. Then it's time for the proofreader to step in.

I too am writing a novel - I’m only managing about 500 words a day - and I’m having a very up and down time of it. I love writing, but I am also finding the process torturous. Sometimes I think my writing is brilliant, and other times I think it is terrible. I constantly reread and rewrite passages, which is making my progress even slower (and trust me it’s slow already), and I’m currently having a crisis of confidence about the whole endeavour. Thank you for this thread - I’m going to try and follow the advice to just get it all down before going back and polishing it.

I don’t know if this might help anyone but I bought myself an A4 folding wallet thing from Amazon, that acts as a clipboard aswell.

When I am writing, I use my Chromebook, but I do sometimes get a hankering just to get something down on paper with a pen. So what I started doing was, if I had an idea for a scene or an event later on that I am not near writing yet, I write it in paper form and store it in my folding wallet. Its great because I get my ideas down, which sometimes renews my interest when I’ve been struggling a bit, but it’s easy to just pick up and write without having to log in to my Chromebook.

I also have a little paper notebook that I jot things down along the way. I store that in the wallet aswell, so it’s like a little in-progress writing folder. Whenever I get the Chromebook out to write, I just grab the folder aswell. My little novel world is stored in it. It was about £15 from Amazon and had a pen holder and a few little pockets for notes and things.

Write. Set yourself a number of words per day (late DH did 1000 and was cross if he did not make that). Don't edit till you have finished otherwise you will have a mess, with bits changed that make changes down the line. Get a beta reader if possible.

I write when I can't sleep on my phone, I started on Samsung notes but have just exported to Word. I don't write every day, I write when the ideas come into my head. I'm writing a story based on my dad's wartime childhood & his family, so I have a basis of the stories he told me & the timeline of WW2.

Just write and don't worry about grammar, spelling, or coherence at this stage. Get the ideas down, no matter how rough they are.