You would think that finishing a novel of 80,000 words and months, if not years, of work would be more exciting. Not usually, no. It feels like finishing a huge exam in school, or finally passing on a project at work. You get that rush of accomplishment followed by an echoing emptiness of “what now?”
I’m being dramatic. But every time I’ve finished a project, it feels so anticlimactic. I can tell others that it’s done and get the “woohoo you did it!” but it always feels like they don’t understand. (okay emo kid we get it…nobody understands the torment you go through.)
What I mean to say is that this is the part of the book that feels lonely. During the writing I can write with my community at a coffee shop or even share what I’m mulling over. When people start reading it, I get to interact when readers say their favorite part or if they were disappointed by the characters in some way. But, this stage, the “yayy it’s finished but nobody has read it yet” is really really hard.
If you’ve read any of my books on Radish, I encourage you to leave a comment on them or even with me here. I love hearing what people think of the stories as it’s a way I get to interact with the story after it’s left my brain and settled on paper.
What am I doing to fill the emptiness?
Reading. A lot of reading. I think of it as a creative refuel to get my brain back into the brainstorm and idea mode. I also have a few drafts that need another readthrough to start the editing process agian.
Shiny New Project Writing. I have so many projects I want to work on that I don’t know where to settle myself. I might just let myself work on everything for a while 😛 Might be ill-advised though.
Brainstorming/daydreaming. The most fun way to plan the first draft of anything is to just let my brain run wild with possibilities.
I’ll share my new secret project names as I come up with them. 😛
Happy Reading,
Rachel
Subtle Stories 
When I was in high school and college, and I finished a manuscript, I felt so accomplished! I was always like, “Well, obviously, we need to celebrate!” But now as an adult, I finish a manuscript, and I’m like, “Welp. Guess it’s time to start the next project.” I wish I could recapture that prior excitement, but I’m not entirely why it changed in the first place.
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Hey Rachel ! Where can I find your book? Would you mind sharing the link? 🙂 I would love to have a look
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Of course! You can find all of my pieces on Radish Fiction. Here’s a link: https://radishfiction.com/writers/1882 Let me know if this doesn’t work for you. Thanks!
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