When you're done with a novel, novella, short story, poem, etc. how do you feel? Do you feel proud? Do you feel like you've accomplished something? Do you feel like it's imperfect? I have a strange mixture of these things. After I complete a big project, I pat myself on the back a little. I understand just how much effort goes into writing something, and I'm happy that I've reached another milestone. I also think about all the little things I didn't do quite right, and how I'm a terrible author. It's a strange hodgepodge of emotions that ultimately drives me to write more. MM
Not sure about anyone else. But for me, even after I type "THE END" I'm still thinking about my storyline, still thinking about whether I tied all the knots and closed all the holes. In other words, I'm not really ever done until another project comes along.
My initial reaction is a mix - There's elation - Booyah! I'm finally done! Worry - Am I sure all my commas are in the right place? Relief - thank God, I don't have to keep going over and over this doggone story . Now, I can move onto something fresh. Pride - Not bad, Peach, not bad. Fear - What if this sucks and I can't tell? After a while I calm down ... a bit. And rationalize - it's good enough at this moment in time so quit fretting and move onto something fresh. That's my favorite part - moving onto something fresh.
I'll let you know when I finish. As it is - it's "Omigosh! Omigosh! It's getting too long! How am I ever going to finish this blasted thing?!" *furious typing on manuscript*
I have that feeling on my current big project. I'm taking a step back to work on other things right now. When I return, I'll be refreshed.
Generally relief, I'd say. By the time I'm done with a project, I'm usually pretty sick of it, so it's nice to send it off and make it be someone else's problem for a while.
It's never finished. I know I should at some point put it in a drawer and leave it for a while, but I have great difficulty in doing that. Wish I could send mine off and make it someone else's problem! I'm not one for going job done - and moving on easily to the next. I tend to need time to clear the decks and gradually free myself of the last 'completed' work.
If by "finished", you mean "completed the first draft", I put it aside, take a deep breath, and try to think of other things for the next month or so. If by "finished", you mean finished editing, revising, reviewing, getting critiques, revising some more, and finally really and truly "finished", so that there is really nothing more to be done on the ms, I say, "okay, time to start querying". Which is what I'm doing now.
I'm proud of finishing - "Hey, I got something done!" - but sometimes I'm not sure I'm proud of the story. My stories rarely turn out the way I'd hoped they would, or thought they would. I'm generally left with something quite different from what I'd set out to write - I guess that's the life of a pantser. We discover our stories as we move along, so they're not usually what we thought they'd be. This is sometimes a good thing, but it can also be somewhat alarming. I have a WIP right now that has a very emotionally intense sequence right there in chapter one, but things settle down a bit after that until the climax. I'm not sure I can make this work structurally. I'm still working on the second draft, looking for a good solution to this problem. The thing is, I really like a lot of the stuff in there, so I'm not really sure that it is a problem. So I'm not really sure how I feel about this story yet. Argh.
Since I've never wrote with the goal of getting published I don't experience much worry or dissatisfaction with the writing. Up to this point, I've only written as a hobby, so I was just happy to have finished. It's an almost euphoric feeling when you punch out 60,000-100,000 words. Now that I've began writing with the intention of actually learning the craft, everything I write is garbage (Which it mostly is, but that will hopefully change in the years to come). Every sentence feels clunky, every description uninspiring. Nothing seems to have the effect I want it to. I've rewritten a single chapter about 15 times, and have yet to write something I'm proud of. It's definitely a process, but one I'm looking forward to undertaking.