Breaks between novel projects

I'm in about the same spot as you, and I've found that it helps me to write 30 mins per day, no matter what. I've just committed to a firm plan for the next novel but in the meantime, I've been experimenting with other ideas, short stories, etc.. The last time I was in this spot, I took a break from writing completely and found it took me a long time to get back in the groove, so I've determined that the secret is to keep the flow going constantly, even if it's only a trickle.

But don't worry about being slow to get restarted--I got back into the groove and so will you.

So far, I haven't actually taken a break. I started writing my second book before I had finished my first, largely because I had gotten to the point where I was only editing and proofreading my first and still had a fair bit of creativity that demanded to be poured into new scenes :-D

But yeah, don't sweat it, everyone's different.

I take a break of about a month or so from one novel to the next, just as you do. But I tend to work on at least two projects simultaneously, so while I'm working on a new novel, I'm still, after an appropriate interval, dragging the previous novel out, submitting that first draft to beta readers, getting feedback and doing rewrites and all that stuff. I actually like the revision stage much less than the first draft stage personally, so for me, the new novel, which is still in first draft stage, is my "reward" for doing all the fixing up on the previous novel with new drafts and such.

lis_kb said:

...How long do you guys take off between books?

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I don't take time between books. When I finish one I start the next. It helps to do this if you write your synopsis and query as you are writing your book - actually, I do this when I'm putting my hand-written version into the computer - that's the version that will be submitted. So, yeah, write your synopses and query while you are writing the version you will sub, is what I would suggest - if anyone asked me this, specifically

I take as long as I need to. Sometimes that's a few months. Sometimes a day.

I still write most days, even if I'm not focused on a single novel length project, but I tend to keep it a little more informal as far as what I'm doing until I get a really solid urge to work on a particular story. I also usually start noodling on a new draft while I'm still polishing up the previous one as I find that helps combat some of the high/low energy that comes with finishing a project.

But, if you're still not finding the groove to tackle the next novel, don't worry about it just yet. I've had to turn my focus to short stories or comic book scripts for a while on occasion because, while the writing energy was there, the novel energy was not.

I take about 3 months, usually. But it's been much longer this time around. I'll admit, the longer I go without doing it, the harder it is to get into. Sometimes I'll have a few false starts before anything takes off. I feel like I have to pass the 10K mark to even call it a "novel."

And I can't seem to force myself to write. It just has to come out of me or not at all. And that's okay with me. I'm not going to write every day just to say I wrote something. But that's just how I work. Otherwise it's not my best.

I tend to just finish one story then jump into draft 1 of the next. During the writing process of the next story, I take the breaks that my mind's telling me I need (and grumble while doing them, because I do hate being stalled out on my work). Usually, when I take them breaks, I work some on the outline for the other stories that I've thought up to write.

I give myself a few days to say "goodbye" to the characters I spent many a moon with. Then I begin drafting the next novel.

It takes me like 2 months, easy. As in, I don't plan to take two months, but my writing slump suspiciously lasts two months even though I have a shiny new, writable idea.

I swap projects after I finish a draft, so I might do something like: Project 1 Draft 2, Project 2 Draft 1, Project 1 Draft 3, Project 3 Draft 2, etc.

When I finish a draft, I might start another right away, or maybe a few days later, but I don't take long breaks.

Usually, it's a month or so. I wish that was the case this time around. I have written four novels so far (none published yet, unfortunately). I finished my fourth novel in mid-January, 2017. I wrote those four novels with only four or five weeks in between. I started writing my fifth in early June, and by late July, or so, I realized I'd written two hundred pages in the wrong direction. So I trunked the novel and have felt awful about it ever since (this is the first time I've trunked a story since I was a teenager and had no idea what I was doing). Since then, I've been writing short stories while too many ideas for novels pile up in my head. So it's coming up a year, almost, since I've finished my last novel, which isn't making me feel very good. At all.

I just have to feel excited about a story. It's been a few months since I finished the last one and I've been anxious to start a new one, but nothing's grabbed me--until the other day, when I started writing a story from the perspective of a twelve year old boy. I've also written four novels, but all for adults, so this is new territory for me. There have been other times when I felt excited about a story but whether after two thousand or ten thousand words it waned. Maybe like a lot of us I've got a few trunked novels. Hope this one holds my interest. It would be a healthy distraction from waiting for bites on the two I'm querying now.

It depends what time I finish. If it's before 6 PM and I don't have any pressing deadlines I start the next one immediately. I mix plotting and pantsing so I have to start writing to start the outline. If it's after 6 PM, I usually wait until the next day unless an idea has really grabbed me.

it's never been a three-square meals thing with me. etc. but whatever works, works. i don't finish one meal and then get hungry, prepare another meal, set the table, look at the clock and fret a bit if it is past suppertime, etc. i sort of just hang out in the kitchen, ugly apron on, but do take occasional breaks for college football and other very important things, and then put the apron back on and keep trying to cook. smell and taste what is in the pots. put it in bowls and on plate on the table for the guests i've invited to dinner if they show up. if none do, i clean up and wipe my hands on my apron and think about what i will cook tomorrow. need to go the store in the morning and will keep the other dishes warming in the stove.

It's interesting to see how diverse people's strategies are, above.

I'm not in a real position to comment from personal experience as my completed stories tend to be an awkward non-short, non-novella length of 12-18k - and more importantly, I've been writing my WIP since 2009 because of the huge amount of historical research involved.

With that preface out the way, I would say that you should take as long as you need, but that calls into question whether you are writing as a labour-of-love-business or just a labour of love. It's clear we have to be super productive and proactive these days to make a living out of writing, so my advice to take it easy is probably irresponsible.

My practice is pretty organic/passive; I won't normally write a word until my characters, theme and loose narrative arc have percolated through the levels of my mind and are developed enough for me to feel I know where I'm going; I'm not a plotter, not a discovery writer, but somewhere in the middle. I often find if I try to 'do' writing, I write stilted, forced and contrived stuff, so for me this passive accretion of ideas is my preferred way of working.

Not particularly helpful of me, but I think sometimes we can stymie ourselves by placing dogmatic strictures on our practice.

pH

I don't tend to start a new novel until at least a year has passed, perhaps long. Two to three years.

In the meantime, however, I write a lot of short fiction.

My writing life and my real life are closely linked, and usually I have to make some big changes in the latter before I'm ready to engaged with the former again.

It varies. I've started a new novel right after finishing one, and I've had a break of a couple of years inbetween. Depends on how urgently a new idea demands to be developed, and also on what else is going on in my life - if I can make enough space for writing.