Waiting

Yep. I write something else.

Always be working on something.

And when I have something on sub, I look upon it as an exciting time. Yes, really! You have 'hope in the mail', as I once heard it described.

Good luck.

It's time to start something new.

You have 'hope in the mail',

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That's lovely. Thanks for that.

Williebee said:

That's lovely. Thanks for that.

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Credit where it's due; I read it on another author's blog. Shelley Munro's, I think it was.

When I finish a WIP, I take a break.
I try to immerse myself in all those non-writing related things I've ignored for the next two weeks, like cleaning, running, paperwork, etc.
By the end of two weeks, I'm itching to write again and not thinking so much about the betas anymore. Usually, at that point, at least one will have trickled in anyway.
Congratulations!

Watch this

And write some more. It's what all the cool kids do.

That's only when I finish a WIP though.
When I finish revisions, or I'm querying, or I have a novel out on sub, I write.

I get up and move around. Stretch, take walks, dance. All that sitting makes me crazy!!!! And so when I feel I've had a good amount of movement and sunlight and all that, I go and write a story. Or read. Reading is good. Just don't read what you sent out. That is not a good thing to do.

Move on and work on something else. You'll get the MS back soon enough.

Niiicola said:

I just sent my WIP out to betas last week, and I have been a flighty mess ever since.

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Last week?

Get ready to wait months in the publication "process".

caw

I start something new immediately. I'm a firm believer in "submit and forget". I can't control how long anything out of my hands will take. I can control how much and how often I write.

Every day not spent writing, is one less day spent improving your writing and getting closer to your goal.

Working on the next project is all that's keeping me (sort of) sane at the moment. The rest of the time I'm watching my Caller ID for that magical (212) area code....

If you're not ready to write something else yet, do some brainstorming on other ideas you've got. If you don't have any, now's the time to find some! Take your notebook everywhere and look out for potential story starters and interesting characters. And if you don't do it already write a journal. It doesn't have to be anything terribly literary, just a way to dump your thoughts out onto paper, which can help them stop going around and around in your head. I find writing a few pages - in longhand always - pretty much every day is very useful to me. It clears the rubbish out of my brain so I can concentrate on writing thoughts.

Do lots of reading - there's never enough time for reading while you're writing so take the chance to do some now! And not only fiction. Read some non-fiction, maybe about something you know nothing about - that can generate ideas too.

Go to art galleries and exhibitions, museums. Go to a concert or performance, maybe of something you would normally never go to. Take some daytrips, to a different environment than you're used to. If you live inland go to the coast. If you live in the town go to the countryside and vice-versa.

The mind can get very narrowly focused when in the middle of working on a book, not to mention there often just isn't time to do any of those things! Open yourself up to some new experiences that will air out your mind and get it ready for new ideas.

Waiting-to-hear is such a way of life for writers, Niiicola, I understand where you're coming from.

Right now I am waiting for proofs of a non-fiction assignment to arrive so I can see what an editor has done with my text, waiting to hear about a submitted novella, waiting to hear back about a short fiction piece sent off to a trusted Beta reader.

If I am too agitated and restless to sit down and write or even read, I get out for long walks or go to gym. I also paint big gaudy canvases, or cook, spend time in the herb garden. In summer I do a lot of swimming.

But as soon as I can, I get back to writing or outlining another story. That takes my attention off the 'what if'...' pointless speculating about what the reader or editor or agent thinks, back to the business of writing.

I'm at that stage right now. Just finished a new version of my novel and have sent out a few queries, but am not feeling quite fresh/ detached enough to start another project. Thankfully, I go back to uni next week, so I won't have so much time on my hands.

Charlie Horse said:

Every day not spent writing, is one less day spent improving your writing and getting closer to your goal.

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On the other hand, sometimes you really do need a mental break.

I go back and forth. If I'm really stressing out about a submission, sometimes I need a day or two to get away from writing in general. I'll read a book outside my genre and get some much-needed exercise. When I come back, my writing will be a lot better because of it.