It's done. GET WELL SOON II is now in the hands of my editor. I have experienced this with three other books already. But this time, it's different. Normally, I finish my first editor-readable draft right at the end of summer, and then BAM! I have to go back to work. This time around, I was able to slow down and finish on my own time. Actually, I wonder if that's true. If I added up all of the hours that each of my previous books took me to write, would GWSII be any greater? Aside from the fact that it is my longest book, did it only take a larger number of months to write because I didn't have as many minutes each day? So I really just wrote it in the same span of time, only with less time each day to do so? Is any of this making sense? I'm not fully awake yet. Because I couldn't think of a reason to get myself out of bed early! Whoa!!!
So what next? What do other authors do when they are home all year instead of only the summer, and they have nothing technically lined up? Do I start on a new book right away? Do I fritter away my time? Do I play around with some picture book ideas? I have NO CLUE. I hope this is not the part where I drive myself insane. This is where the real discipline kicks in. Where I have to create an assignment. For instance, I really need to add a DON'T STOP NOW page to my website. But no one is making me do that. Uh oh. I'm sensing weeks of crappy TV and eating anything sweet I can find laying around the house (hello, raisins!).
Shouldn't I be happy and relaxed? I am happy, if course, but I am also very nervous. Do I need the daily stimulation of school life to inspire a new book each year? Or can I pull a second book out of my head within the same year's time? I used to be very confident that I could, you know, write at least two books per year. And I still think I can, but not with as much confidence. Maybe I do need a few weeks to gather my thoughts, veg out, and live a lazy life. Now who wants to share a tub of raisins?
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3 comments:
Raisins are great!
You can do it!
Definitely a break first. Give yourself the rest of December to relax! Nothing wrong with that—you just finished a book!
I think you can write two a year, and you will find inspiration. The most important thing to remember when you are "just at home" is that you don't have to be writing every spare second you have. You need some time to let those ideas come. You need to live life to inspire those ideas.
So yes, I give you permission to chill, even if I'd love to have another book of yours RIGHT NOW.
Thanks, guys! I had an interesting afternoon yesterday where I went back to visit a friend where I work. Definitely made me think more about writing! For now, I shall use my extra time to run holiday errands. Maybe some weirdo in a store will inspire a book or something.
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