My brain is made of tapioca pudding.
Not really, but that's what it feels like.
It's funny because DURING the rewrite (or the first draft) after a while all you want is to be done. You dream about typing "The End" and celebrating with a book buying spree.
But when that day actually arrives, suddenly your brain is like, "Wait? What? Huh?" You've trained yourself for months to sit diligently in the chair and pump out words. And now you're done.
Directionless. Purposeless. Aimless.
Of course, there's always something else to do. There's other book ideas to work on. I have another book, The Ghosts Between Us, to revise and edit (it's probably going to need a rewrite too). I am going to research agents and draft a query letter for The Heart's Remains, even though I still have to edit the book. I figure the more time I spend on both the better off I am going to be. But it's also a question of when to start another project. I need a little bit of a recharge in between major projects.
Also, my apartment is a mess. I should probably put "spring cleaning" on my list of things to do.
Also, I have lots of books on the "To Read" list. Some books I can read while revising, but other books that are really long and involved, I try to wait until I am not currently hip-deep in revision.
But it still feels weird that for so long I have one driving purpose and goal, and for now, that's been lifted. The next few days I am going to consider my options and figure out what my next project is going to be.
In the meantime, I get to goof off and call it "recharging." Isn't the writer's life grand?
So what do you guys do after finishing revision/drafting?
So far, I spend a lot of time refreshing my blog roll, reading twitter, reading cracked.com, looking at youtube, ignoring housework, making pictures, staring at the wall...
ReplyDeleteI did start to query, but I stopped when I found an editor to go over my MS. I have a few stories I could work on, but I don't know which to write. I feel your pain.
Ha! I always say my brain is full of strawberry pudding. I even put a picture of it on my site. :)
ReplyDeleteChristi: OMG you're me! That's exactly how my days are going, except I go to work and at night my husband and I watch Buffy/Angel.
ReplyDeleteJoe: Maybe I should find a picture of tapioca....hmmmm...
RE: the way you feel after finishing a project---in my high school philosophy class, I learned that the technical term for this is an "existential vacuum". In the performing arts world, the same phenomenon is known as "post-show depression". I think we writers need our own term to use. Any suggestions? :-)
ReplyDelete