Should we still do it?

As you already know, I've written a novel for the past two years and a half. One year of research and a few chapters; the second year was managing life and finding time to write the rest of the story.

I've been waiting for the day I would finish the first draft, and this day has come on May 19th, 2017.
On a Friday, before I started my shift, I ended up finishing writing my novel. An odd feeling came rush in as soon as I hit the last word, the sense of loss rushed in and I started feeling different emotions. I had finished a novel which I had come to get attached to the characters who felt more real than people around me. Then suddenly everything came to an end. In a split second, I felt my little imaginary world fall apart.

DO NOT get me wrong, I'm beyond excited about the fact that I finished writing over three hundred pages, but at the same time, I feel like my little world is over, poof into the wind. The world I would escape to has come to an end. Obviously, it's only my imagination, and maybe I shouldn't have let the novel be my escape world, but it's too late for that now! 

Two years and a half for a novel...
A long time to write a story, yes, but it's my very first time finishing something this big and time-consuming. I had written before but never took the courage to finish anything. So when I saw my novel finishing, I saw a part of my life ending. I had the sense of non-existence all the sudden. Melodramatic to say the least...

Two years and a half for a novel...
It may take a while to write especially when life gets in the way. When obstacles come along and keep you from thinking about the novel, the characters, you can't find time, and you are not inspired to even begin writing anything. I may have had two years and a half to complete a novel, but let's be honest, I didn't write every single day on the book. I had other writing, other things to do.

Two years and a half for a novel...
I did spend hours staring at a blank page, waiting for an idea to pop up. Spent hours looking at people passing by the coffee shop's window thinking about my characters. Spent a lot of time mumbling to myself, searching for the right word, phrase, thought. Spent a lot of moments looking up my ceiling for some inspiration, I eventually knew dust spot was on it.

Two years and a half for a novel...
Imaginary friends do exist! I can vouch for it, I can finally say that I had an "imaginary friend". I'm sure you've heard of writer's block before, right? Well, I can say that for a fact when you come across writer's block, it does feel like your imaginary friend is gone for good.

Today, I'm in the process of editing the story, the characters, the plot, the setting... I'm in the process of making my very first draft better, less repetitive, more interesting to the reader which to this day is me and my high school sophomore year history, teacher. 
I proved myself I could do anything I wanted if I took the patience and kept the determination going. For the first time in a long time, I believe I'm a good enough writer because, for the little editing I recently did, my writing has progressed a lot. My writing is slightly more mature than my first chapters, you can tell I was afraid of letting my imagination run wild. 
Despite my first draft finished, I know I have a long way to go before I see it in bookstores if in fact, makes it to the publication stage. 

"I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper." - Steve Martin 

~Bella