Post-novel depression - is it just me?

inanna · Nov 7, 2006

Does anyone ever feel exhausted and empty after finishing a big project? I spent two and a half years on this novel I just finished a few weeks ago, and believe me, I was ready to be done with it. My plan was to take a couple of months off before going back to edit (it's reeaaallly long). I had all these ideas for how I would spend that time: yoga, catching up on my reading, dvds...plus a plan to jump into a new WIP to coincide with NaNoWriMo.

I'm not doing any of those things.

I'm wandering around like a dazed burnout-case. I miss my characters and my story, and since I'm so used to directing all my mental energy into my plot, I find myself unable to concentrate without it. It's total ADD. I've hardly read or written a word.

I had no idea I would need so much time to decompress. Is this normal? Or am I just weird?

Penguin Queen · Nov 7, 2006

The novelist Alice Thomas Ellis wrote somewhere that she felt liek a dog bereft of its bone whenever she'd finished a novel, & she wrote very short ones, I dont think they woudl have taken her 2 years to write.

I think how you feel is normal.
Take it easy. Maybe you can plan some ordinary activity, go to the cinema, have a meal with a friend, go to a museum... just wander round and recouperate a bit.

PeeDee · Nov 7, 2006

It's perfectly normal. I do it after every long project. I'll get done and I'm jumping to get going on the next project or two. I wind up doing nothing very much, writing some random short stories, mostly just thinking about my novel.

It's actually why I find it a good idea to start your next project when you're 10,000 words or so away from the end of your last project. That way, you don't have to try to start a new one from scratch, you can just transfer your work ethic as best you can and keep going on the new project.

icerose · Nov 7, 2006

I would look for an ezine accepting submissions or a free short story contest, or even one you have to pay for, take their subject, their genre, their target and start writing. I find the best way to get over the hump is to write something within someone else's confines. Then go over your story ideas, read them over, talk abou them, regain the spark you had when you concieved them and jump in.

stormie · Nov 7, 2006

inanna said:
I'm wandering around like a dazed burnout-case. I miss my characters and my story, and since I'm so used to directing all my mental energy into my plot, I find myself unable to concentrate without it. It's total ADD. I've hardly read or written a word.

I had no idea I would need so much time to decompress. Is this normal? Or am I just weird?

Not weird. At least not for me. It's happened. I miss my characters so much! They're like best buds. That's why I end up writing stinky sequels, just to see their dialogue or feel their quirkiness.

But I do write other things while I'm pining away for that finished novel.

kuatolives · Nov 7, 2006

Lawrence Block just about blew his block off everytime he finished a book.

PeeDee · Nov 7, 2006

kuatolives said:
Lawrence Block just about blew his block off everytime he finished a book.

This is encouraging.

Marlowe · Nov 7, 2006

Heh, I think I started this exact same topic a month or so ago.

Yeah, it sucks. But you get over it.

RG570 · Nov 7, 2006

I'm doing this exact thing right now. It's been a week since I finished the first draft of my novel, and I'm going a bit nuts. Part of it is that I'm scared that I'm all out of good ideas. All the ones I had lined up seem stupid to me now.

Short stories kind of help temporarily, I find. But for me the only cure is to start a new novel.

Shadow_Ferret · Nov 7, 2006

inanna said:
Does anyone ever feel exhausted and empty after finishing a big project? I spent two and a half years on this novel I just finished a few weeks ago, and believe me, I was ready to be done with it. My plan was to take a couple of months off before going back to edit (it's reeaaallly long).

Well, if you still have to go back to edit it, you're not really finished then, are you?

Not sure why you want to wait a couple months, but I wouldn't give it more than a week or two or you might find yourself making excuses for NOT going back and editing it (you did say it's reeaaallly long).

But when I'm done editing my current WIP and start submitting it, I'll let you know if I feel exhausted or empty.

Pisarz · Nov 7, 2006

I can empathize--I've been through something similar. As I finished up my novel (by that I mean, finished revising it again), I was all excited to begin the next one. I started but didn't get very far; I guess I'm not "done" with the first one yet and I'll need a little time away from novel-writing altogether. I am an academic editor by day and an MBA student by night (and thus a writer "on the side"), but I still find my thoughts wandering to novel #1.

For me, it's also coupled with a twinge of nervousness, as I am awaiting responses from several agents who requested material. Maybe it's because I may need to revise yet again based on this round of agent feedback, but write now I am in limbo regarding a new project. I'm not going to write for the sake of it if emotionally I need a month or so off. Thank goodness for a full life quite apart from writing! In addition to what other people here have said, take pleasure in the non-writing aspects of your life and revel in them for a few weeks or a month. You'll know when the time is right to begin again.

johnzakour · Nov 7, 2006

I guess I'm weird, I actually feel relieved when it's over as now people get to read it (plus I get the last 1/2 of the advance check.)

inanna · Nov 7, 2006

Thanks, everyone. I like the idea of trying short stories. I'm thinking I'll atttempt to catch up on the NaNo novel I started by just writing character vignettes, without worrying about tying the plot together so much. My mind is still on my old plot.

I have my last six chapters in with my crit group, and I should hear back from them in a few weeks. That's when I'll start editing. I need some time away from this book because I've lost perspective. I can't tell what's good and what isn't. I don't really expect it to be too overwhelming a process; I'd been revising and editing as I went, since my pride wouldn't let me turn in utter first-draft-quality stuff, but now I'm just burnt out.

If I could only read a book and have someone else tell me a story; I think that would help a lot. I'm going to try again and look for something I can focus on. Any suggestions? What's engrossing, but not too challenging for the temporarily ADD-impaired?

MikeAngel · Nov 7, 2006

When your dog runs away the best cure is to get a new puppy.

Beyondian · Nov 7, 2006

I go through a range of emotions when I'm writing a book:
1st stage: The idea! Oh rapture, I have a brilliant scheme. It's going to be wonderful, brilliant, burning molten fire from the imagination gods!
2nd stage: The beginning. The first chapter is both tentative and gentle, slowly trying to set up the story in the best way. Getting to know my character.
3rd Stage: The worry. About half way through the second or third chapter everything tends to slow down. And I am attacked by fear. What if I can't write another novel? What if it's terrible? What if I'm a failure?
4th stage: Walking uphill. From there until the middle of the book, it's like a slow uphill climb. It's fun, but there's no real end in sight. You just keep on a-climbing.
5th Stage: The top! Wahoo! I got to the middle of a book! I might just finish it after all!
6th stage: On a steep hill and somebody killed the brakes.... Here is where the end is in sight and I am rushing to finish the dang blasted thing. My novel has become a bit of a burden and I long to have it done.
7th stage: Finished!! relief, exhaustion, disbelief.
8th stage: Depression. I put the book away and I never want to hear of it again. This usually lasts for two months.
9th stage: The edit. I bring it out again and I wonder how I ever thought this stuff was good. Then I see the good bits and I enjoy them. This is the best stage.
10th stage: A new project... see 1st stage.
At least... this has been my experience so far.

MidnightMuse · Nov 7, 2006

I don't think I've ever felt depressed. I get a sense of relief, and excitment, and definitely a big feeling of accomplishment and a touch of "look what I did."

Then I get on with the next one, because before that one ended, the next one started hammering on the back of my mind !

Dave.C.Robinson · Nov 7, 2006

I'm doing some shorts to hone a different skill, then going back to editing the novel I just finished the first draft of.

I do think that those not yet published may have a different emotional reaction than those who're waiting for the check once it's turned in.

Pisarz · Nov 7, 2006

I do think that those not yet published may have a different emotional reaction than those who're waiting for the check once it's turned in.[/quote]

I was going to post that exact sentiment earlier but didn't hit the "submit reply" button for fear of sounding whiny or sour grapish (and I'm unpublished but I'm neither of those things). I agree that this is a distinction worth making. Thanks for saying it!

ChaosTitan · Nov 7, 2006

MidnightMuse said:
I don't think I've ever felt depressed. I get a sense of relief, and excitment, and definitely a big feeling of accomplishment and a touch of "look what I did."

Ditto.

I love typing "The End," no matter how much time I've spent on a project, be it days, months, or years. It's like throwing a dinner party. It's lots of fun while the guests are there, but dang if it doesn't feel great when it's over.

PeeDee · Nov 7, 2006

Dave.C.Robinson said:
I do think that those not yet published may have a different emotional reaction than those who're waiting for the check once it's turned in.

That makes me curious. How so?

Dave.C.Robinson · Nov 7, 2006

PeeDee said:
That makes me curious. How so?

If you aren't published, and don't have a contract, once the novel is finished you still have to send it out and see if it sells. You may be finished the writing, but you still have to do the marketing. You're querying agents and publishers. It's not the same sense of completion as when you turn it in to a publisher.

If you have a contract, you don't have to worry about what to do with it or where to send it. You already know.

PeeDee · Nov 7, 2006

Dave.C.Robinson said:
If you aren't published, and don't have a contract, once the novel is finished you still have to send it out and see if it sells. You may be finished the writing, but you still have to do the marketing. You're querying agents and publishers. It's not the same sense of completion as when you turn it in to a publisher.

If you have a contract, you don't have to worry about what to do with it or where to send it. You already know.

Ah, okay. Now I see what your saying...and more or less agree with you, yeah.

SeanDSchaffer · Nov 8, 2006

inanna said:
Does anyone ever feel exhausted and empty after finishing a big project? I spent two and a half years on this novel I just finished a few weeks ago, and believe me, I was ready to be done with it. My plan was to take a couple of months off before going back to edit (it's reeaaallly long). I had all these ideas for how I would spend that time: yoga, catching up on my reading, dvds...plus a plan to jump into a new WIP to coincide with NaNoWriMo.

I'm not doing any of those things.

I'm wandering around like a dazed burnout-case. I miss my characters and my story, and since I'm so used to directing all my mental energy into my plot, I find myself unable to concentrate without it. It's total ADD. I've hardly read or written a word.

I had no idea I would need so much time to decompress. Is this normal? Or am I just weird?

I don't know about other writers, but I know that I myself get depressed when a work is finished, as well. I think part of the reason for this, is that I have been pouring so much work into the character development and the telling of the story for a period of months--possibly more than a year at a time, depending on the manuscript--that I find it difficult to shift gears and immediately move on to something else.

In fact, when I finished the work I'm shopping around now, the thought of quitting writing altogether popped up within me. Ironically, that is a sad pattern that is very much a part of my post-novel depression, as you call it. This happens every time I finish a manuscript. And it does not seem to help when I have to shift gears to the submissions mode.

I hope this helps. Good luck to you, and I hope your depression will ease up soon.

Philip64 · Nov 8, 2006

I recommend...

One thing I learned from experience is that's it's a good idea to get thinking/working on a new project as soon as you can - ideally, as suggested above, before you have finished with the current book, and certainly before you begin revising/editing. Above all, you should be shaping up to write again, or have started, before you submit to agents/your agent/your publisher.

Two reasons:
1.) You need to be able to talk about your next book to anyone interested in the last one. A writer with no particular idea what he/she is going to do next makes people nervous.

2.) If things go badly for the first book, it's less likely to stop you in your tracks. If you have something else already cooking, you can tell yourself that this will do better (and you can always revisit the last book once you've had some success with the next). It's an insurance policy against being demoralised by disappointment.

In short, inspiration is the best cure for deflation.

Prawn · Nov 8, 2006

I know how you feel. It's kind of like a break up. You have developed witht he characters, and now its over. I think that is why so many authors write sequels.
P

Post-novel depression - is it just me?

Queen of Typos

Break the rules.

Where's my tea, please...?

Lost in School Work

storm central

Gonzo Journalist

Where's my tea, please...?

Duck of Death

Court Jester

Dangerous with a Keyboard

Queen of Typos

musker vyusher

Midnight Reading

... with the High Command

Around

Where's my tea, please...?

... with the High Command

Where's my tea, please...?

SeanDSchaffer

sticking his oar in...

Writing is finite,revising infinite