Itchy fingers and putting your MS aside

kbax · Jan 31, 2006

This is my first new thread. So I'd like to start by saying hi, my name is Kristin, been lurking for a few months and posting every once in a great while for a few weeks. I really enjoy the sense of camaraderie that seems to permeate this place.

So...I technically finished my WIP, or at least the actual main writing part of it, Sunday evening. 6 months of late nights, early mornings, and driving my husband nuts with brainstorming and my inattention to housework...and there it is. I need to tool around a bit with some things before I set it aside (e.g., I just wanted to get the darn thing DONE, so I rushed through some parts just for the sake of getting it on paper/screen), but I should be setting it aside to cool off by this weekend. Planning to spend 3-4 weeks brushing up on my grammar and such in order to better tackle the editing process.

So I should feel triumphant and have a sense of closure now, right? I mean, this is what I was working for--to actually have "the book" done.

Then why do I actually feel sorta depressed? WHAT is wrong with me? I want to edit it NOW, without letting it percolate. My fingers are already itchy. I know I need to set it aside, but I just have this feeling that I can't. What am I going to do with myself (one can only spend so many hours a day reading Elements of Style)?

So, looking for commiseration, advice, someone to tell me I'm not a masochistic idiot for refusing to allow myself the luxury of...just being for a while.

Writers. Such a needy, overly-analytical bunch.

-kbax

triceretops · Jan 31, 2006

Hi, kbax, and congrats on that finishing. Yes, it's actually recommended that you let the book cool from a week on up to a month. But like you, I was itchy and got back into it about five days afterwards. And yes, it takes me about 3-4 weeks to go over the book anywhere from 4-6 times, hunting down and correcting different elements.

I truly would suggest that you let it sit for at least a week, perferably more, and there's a reason for that. Then you can come at it with fresh eyes and a more objective stance. You've got to be able to see it from someone else's viewpoint, and that's hard, but this is what you're trying to accomplish. Don't be discouraged and too eager. Best thing is to start right away on another one. Get caught up in that white hot spark again. Then go back to the editing part.

Triceratops

Branwyn · Jan 31, 2006

kbax,

Don't worry it's never done. Even when you think it's done...it's not. I 'finished' my book in September and I'm rewriting today. Try brainstorming about your next project, then after a while go back to this.

I picked up The First Five Pages, by Noah Lukeman. I'm up to chapter 3 and finding it an enlightening book. I highly recommend it.

Now I must get to my family's laundry...

Good Luck

L M Ashton · Jan 31, 2006

Congrats on finishing your first draft! Huge accomplishment! Yay!!!!!

As for what to do now? You could always start working on your next one...

kbax · Jan 31, 2006

Thanks a bunch for the supportive messages, guys. I guess I expected to feel better about completing it, and I didn't realize setting it aside would be so hard. It is fairly exciting, though, to think about my next book. Scary and exciting, all at the same time.

A year ago, I didn't think I'd ever write another book...it's a long story (aren't they all), but let's just say I've tried and failed several times over the past 10 years. Now I'm winding down on this one, so I guess I should have expected are a lot of mixed feelings...but I'm going to force myself to put it away for a while.

And in the meanwhile, I'm sure my husband will be thrilled that the process is about to begin all over again...although maybe I should take a hint from Baywitch and get some laundry done, first.
On second thought...nah. Clean clothes are for the weak.

arrowqueen · Jan 31, 2006

You've got the literary equivalent of post-coital depression.

Now it's time for the metaphorical cigarette and snooze before you get back on the job!

L.Jones · Jan 31, 2006

A lot of writers feel a let down when they finish a manuscript. Myself, I have that feeling of a cartoon character having run right off the edge of a cliff and suddenly looking down and seeing my legs are still moving but I've run out of ground. It takes a day or so to not wake up in the middle of the night worried about what needs to get done on the book.

That said I have never left books to sit at this stage. Maybe a couple days but usually not that. I've found that the more I write the more I am inclined to write so it makes sense to dive back in. It's a matter of writing hot, as it were.

Works for me and book #23 comes out this spring.
Do what works for you and this book not what some one says to do in a book or website.

annie
Luanne Jones
Heathen Girls (available now)

Jarsto · Jan 31, 2006

I can sympathise. I recently (as in within the last hour) finished my W-no-longer-IP. Right now I'm feeling a little lost. Tomorrow I'll probably feel great, if experience is anything to judge by, but also hollow. Suddenly there won't be a WIP sitting in my taskbar ready to continue writing a moment's notice.

My solution will probably be to start writing again, but on something else. I have another novel I need to finish (embarrassingly I've had it for over a year as a WIP). Two novels I could choose that were written some time ago an need editing if I want to go looking for agents, and any number of things I could do worldbuilding for. For me writing something else makes it easier to ignore the work I just finished for a while.

kbax · Jan 31, 2006

You've got the literary equivalent of post-coital depression.

Now it's time for the metaphorical cigarette and snooze before you get back on the job!

Ha! I like that. Yes, writing can be a bit like the big S sometimes...lots of messing around before you get to the big part; occasionally frustrating; climax is essential.

That said I have never left books to sit at this stage. Maybe a couple days but usually not that. I've found that the more I write the more I am inclined to write so it makes sense to dive back in. It's a matter of writing hot, as it were.

I'm jealous! I only wish I could do that. I'm only going by my experience with short stories, which is that when I look at something once I've gained some distance, I find a lot that can be fixed. Usually I read something and want to slap myself on the head--"what was I thinking with this trash? I can't believe I let people read this!" I think I would miss a great deal by going on the attack immediately. I just feel like I'm wasting time by not working on it...that said, I started brainstorming for my next book on my lunch hour, and it felt great. I returned to my day job feeling refreshed...mainly from the chills I got when I wrote the words "Book II".

I can sympathise. I recently (as in within the last hour) finished my W-no-longer-IP. Right now I'm feeling a little lost. Tomorrow I'll probably feel great, if experience is anything to judge by, but also hollow.

Yep. That sums it up. It was kinda that..."Okay, what now?" feeling.

You guys rock.

LightShadow · Jan 31, 2006

let it cool, and when you come back, you write hot.

Pike · Jan 31, 2006

Guess I'm not the only "tweaker" in the community. I can associate with the itchy finger syndrome. I completed my first novel last year shortly before X-mas and haven't been able to leave it alone. I keep running into little typos and small passages that jst need an extra umph to make them shine. That isn't to say that I'm keeping myself busy with it alone. I've written a short story, an article for an e-zine, have two other shorts in the works and started plotting my next book. With a little direction you can turn that restlessness into a compilation of work.

expatbrat · Feb 1, 2006

I remember when I finished high school feeling this heavy strange feeling. It took a few days to realized it was guilt - like my subconscious thought I should still be studying and I felt guilty for relaxing.

I am still working on my first MS (so much harder than an article - phew). When I got to the end of my planning stage I SMS-ed everyone in my phone and ordered a glass of bubbly (was writing in a café that day). I spend the next hour sipping and returning the flow of texts. I believe in celebrating every step, let your subconscious know you moving on to the next phase so it does not hold you back.

Take the break. Sharpen the axe. I like to get out some cookbooks and treat the family for a few weeks with time, attention and great food. Enjoy the break. Have a date you start back on the MS. Tell your family the date and stick to it. Explain why you have the time now, explain your process, enjoy the break and stick to the date you get back to it.

Congrats on getting this far.

Jonny Ryan Mac · Feb 1, 2006

I know how you feel. I felt the same way when I finished mine. My wife was so exited as it was all I talked about for months. I took about a three month hadius, due mainly to the fact that I felt so depressed about how much better i could have written it. Now three months after that, Ive been through all 550 pages twice, editing and plot twisting the whole way. I've told myself that this is the last time for a while. Finish this one, and get on to part two.

Some people obsess about thier weight, or thier muscle tone, and thier never satisfied. Is it too much to think that writers are the same, I think no. This is what I do, and I'll be like this until I die.

L M Ashton · Feb 1, 2006

I believe in celebrating every step, let your subconscious know you moving on to the next phase so it does not hold you back.

I like this. It sounds like a great idea. Thanks!

Itchy fingers and putting your MS aside

kbax

Refrigerate After Opening

triceretops

Branwyn

Print release:Sept.1,'09

L M Ashton

crazy spec fic writer

kbax

Refrigerate After Opening

arrowqueen

RIP, our sarky besom

L.Jones

Jarsto

kbax

Refrigerate After Opening

LightShadow

defender of the blahs!

Pike

Chivalry ain't dead

expatbrat

Look what we made:

Jonny Ryan Mac

Bogey Golfer

L M Ashton

crazy spec fic writer