I wrote the zero draft to my supernatural horror novel "Laerton" in November 2020 during NaNoWriMo. This month I sat down and read it from start to finish. I'm not going to lie, it was painful and it took more than a few attempts to get through it, but I did it. 
Reading a draft is always tricky, whether it's your first or your hundredth; there's something about reading your own work which may not sit right, but what kept me going was knowing that I had achieved something. I had finished writing a draft. It may not be pretty, it may not even make sense, but it exists and that is something I really can take pride in.
Along the way, I found a few 'hacks' which helped give me the motivation I needed and I wanted to share them with all you lovely people.
1) Print your writing
There are plenty of resources out there that will tell you that printing your writing will help you to read it with a 'different eye', but for me it was the excitement of seeing my novel in more of a book format. Seeing each page printing in front of me, all the words I had written now in ink, page after page of sweat and tears - it was a whole different experience to seeing it on my laptop screen. 
Once printed I used a comb binding machine that my partner got for me as a Christmas present. There are services online that can do this for you, but personally I like playing with new toys and I found the whole experience to be quite relaxing. Seeing my draft printed and bound made the process feel more real, and I couldn't wait to sit down and read it. But that, of course, was the hardest part. 
2) Let it haunt you
I put my draft somewhere where I would see it every day, even occasionally moving it to a new location so that even when I tried to ignore it, I couldn't. It haunted me. The only way I could defeat it was to exorcise it. I'd pick it up, take a deep breath and read the first paragraph in which I would then immediately fall into despair. "This writing is terrible. The voice is all wrong. Why did I think this plot would be a good idea?" Every day I was reminded that I needed to read it, but I never thought I'd be able to get through reading it.
But then, I discovered the third hack. 
3) Exercise
One morning as I was getting ready to go on the exercise bike, I felt in the mood to read something. I considered listening to an audiobook, but then I saw my draft sat there, staring at me. I figured why not take it with me. I could at least give it a try. And it worked! I'm not sure what it was but I managed to keep reading it. I even continued to read it after I had finished my workout. Thank you endorphins! I don't know exactly why it helped, but something clicked. I was able to see the things I did like about my writing. I could see the potential in the story. I could see the things I didn't like in a less critical way. I had finally tamed the beast. 
Now I just need to re-write it.