So after months and months of brainstorming and discarding
one idea after the next, the early morning and late nights and cancelled lunch
date to hit word count goals. You kept the writing appointments you made to
yourself and abused the thesaurus, the dictionary, the world atlas, and Google.
Riding the creative roller coaster from the depth of self-doubt, to the high of
“I’m a genius,” you finally have written “The End.”
Now what?
Well, you frickin' celebrate of course! And then you either
make quick revisions or go straight to the curing, where you leave your baby
alone for a month or so and distract yourself with something else. Reschedule those
lunch date, plan a hike, go and live that beautiful life so you can have
something else to write about.
You’ll probably have a period of let down, where you won’t
know what to do with your newfound time. Read a book, go on a staycation, or binge
watch a series on Netflix. This too is part of the writing process. This is
time where your brain gets to rest, where the new ideas will come to find you.
Jot down notes, lots of notes and explore the rabbit holes later. But don’t let
your break last forever. There is still work to do and this is the calm before the
editing/revision storm.
You have done what others have set out and failed to do. You
have written a manuscript! Congratulations, word slayer. What a wild ride and
you lived to tell the gory tale. Get a t-shirt so the world can bask in your
glory.
Seriously, go. Now.
