As I've previously mentioned, I finished a long project a few weeks ago, and have no idea what to do next. I'll send the finished novel out to agents. I'm realistic about the chances of being signed up. But, hey. Might as well give it a go. I didn't join this site to get feedback on the novel. That would be enormously sensible! Honestly, if I read any part of it one more time, my eyes will fall out. Friends have advised me to start a new project, but I have absolutely no desire to do that. I barely recognise myself. I'm always very focused and determined. I've been like a steamroller for years, and now I'm a piece of tumbleweed. Has anyone had a similar experience when finishing?
Find something to preoccupy your mind while you wait. Best to let the long time between submission and answer, not filled with that bit of anxiety to wonder what the reply will be. Find something new to fill the gap, a hobby or something else that is of your interest if you don't plan on writing anymore stories. That would be the only thing I can think of. Good luck.
My recipe: Go to research, learning things you like, self studying inspiring things. Go to getting both individual/personal and shared experiences which feed your soul. If you have emptied your energy, motivation and enjoyment warehouses, you need to fill them. Do not start new project before having energy, motivation and enjoyment in it. Do things which give you katharsis moments. Do things that teach you something you love to learn. Do things which consume your stress away and give you more energy. (To me walking works like that. I walk in half rural environment. I listen interviews, lectures, podcasts, audiobooks... while doing it. I make notes to my semi pro level voice recorder. I write them down at home when I feel like that.) When you have recharged your batteries, it might happen that something rises up from things you loved to do while recovering. And then your learning might become your prework. Or not. No matter. If you want to have a writing life or career, you need to take care of your creativity. No project is more important than your ability to think and write in a creative, individual and emotionally powerful way. And... Pay attention to your past workflow. Is there something that makes working or creating or concentrating or progress hard or almost impossible? If there is, then change it to better direction. (It seems that all scriptwriters either burn out or work alone. It seems that the way group working is organised burns them out. It's not the work but things linked to it. Some of them even seem to hint to their employees that they can have all the meetings and BS or a good manuscript but not both.) Have a look at my progress journal (Aspie's Pipeline.) You see pparts of how I avoid blocks, mini burn outs, intellectually and emotionally empty periods... If you go there and look around, pay attention to the amount of ideafiles. I'm not writing one project. I'm writing one project at time. There is a big pipeline (or portfolio or....) lurking behind any current project. Having that helps me to grab a next project that both inspires me and teaches me things I need to learn in this phase of writing life an career.
I try to keep myself busy, either with writing or other projects. I tend to get into mischief when bored and unoccupied. But I usually have several projects at various stages at any given time. Taking too much time off tends to kill my work ethic.
of course querying and writing good queries etc is itself a large piece of work... not to mention researching agents, publishers etc and so on Also when you say 'finished' - are you sure its ready to send out, or do you mean finished as in completed the first draft ? In the latter case there is still much to do in terms of readind, editting, beta reads, more editting, grammar checks etc etc
Thanks so much, everyone. I'll reply to each in detail, after I finish work. Big, Soft Moose, yes I've edited it as much as is humanly possible. Had it beta read about a year ago. Edited it after that. And so on. It might be the most-edited novel of all time. I'm nervous of having it beta read again, as - grateful though I was - it did encourage me to take some major wrong turns. Feedback from an agent would, I suppose, give it a new impetus. I've probably read it through more than two hundred times, start to finish. Could be more. Feels like more!
Big hugs to you for such a long and thoughtful reply. I hadn't thought of it that way. I need to find some enjoyment. Thank you. That could be the key to moving in from this weird state, in which I feel as though everything is over. I will look at your progress journals. That's really interesting, about scriptwriters. Hilarious. And awful!
What I've learned about publishing is that the writing and the story have to be good enough for an editor at the publishing house to work with. And maybe you're there. But if/when your book sells, there's going to be a lot more editing and revision. That's been my experience for the most part. But when money is involved, I think it's best to trust the editor and be as easy to work with as possible. It doesn't mean you can't push back a little on some things, but you really have to pick your battles and not have too many of them. Also, I wouldn't expect too much feedback if any until an agent is YOUR agent. I had an agent years ago for a book that never sold. But my agent clearly told me she was not going to work with me and then have me go off with another agent. This was pre-contract. This agent liked my story but said there was a lot of work to do before showing it to publishers. It was hard. I was much younger, and my followthrough was not where it should have been. It was frustrating, but I now wish I had worked harder with my agent. Before that book, I wrote a novel that I felt like I had practically memorized word for word having gone through it so many times. I was ever to send it out and I did, getting form rejections from just about everywhere. I remember one agent did give me feedback, though, I wasn't sure what to do with most of it. Then she had line edited the first few chapters and made a lot of notes. She recommended another agent she knew who might have interest if I could give it another revision. I couldn't do it. Writing a novel is so much work. I was a bit spent, and missed out on that potential opportunity. If I had waited a bit, I probably would have been ready to dive back in. Instead, I stopped sending my book out. I do think it's important to continue writing something else. It will help build more space between you and the novel you've finished. Plus, not all your eggs will be in one basket if you've got something else going. If you need a break from writing, I think that's more than okay. But at least keep reading because that will prevent you from getting too rusty. But take a breather. Even if you don't go back to your novel for another draft, you want to be prepared and ready to work with the professionals.
You're one of very few authors I've met that feel this way. Most of the ones I know get it to a point where they think it's good enough, or outside demands force them to stop, or occasionally they just get sick of looking at it. Rarely, though, would any of them say for certainty that there's nothing else they that there was absolutely no more editing they could possibly do to improve the manuscript the slightest bit. I wish I had that kind of confidence in my work.
Thanks ever so much. Fascinating to hear about your experiences. Good to be reminded that agents might not even give one word of advice. I was just saying that to myself, I suppose, as a way of keeping expectations low. Maybe I will think about jotting down a few words of fiction. Possibly, a 500 word story, or something? 1,000? I'm not good with prompts, so the competitions here wouldn't really work for me. But I suppose I could finish a very short story and post it here somewhere... Thanks, everyone.
Thanks about thanks. If you gave a mobile phone, how useful it is after battery is empty? How much that changes if you charge it? How much you can get original and doable ideas while being without energy and motivation? How much that changes if you walk outside, get inspiring stimulus, research interesting things, talk with distinctive people, read good books, watch excellent lectures and interviews... Walk. Talk. Meet - not the outer shells (identities) but individual inner personalities (essence, core, soul, true self...). Experience. Feel.... I think small things which you have to pay attention to really get it are better than spectacles and Big Things. Bake a bread. Go out when it rains. Visit a church you would never visit. Take a homeless person to a cheap lunch buffet and meet him/her as any person worth your time. Play with kids. Read Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Go to a place with unknown art you like. Go visit the oldest dear relative you have. Do a moss graffiti... The real life is your best material in writing. Go live it! It will plant seed in your soul for your next project - and your writing life.
Ah, thanks. It's not really confidence. It's just having put so many hours in. (I've also finished the query letter and one-page synopsis. I like to have them going alongside the writing, as they help so much with seeing if the story is strong and simple enough.) OMG, I've rewritten that ending so many times. Well, like most people here, I don't have contacts, and can't afford to study for an MA in creative writing etc... So, in a way, I guess I put so much time in to try and even up the odds. It's not War and Peace or something
Let's not talk about me. Let's talk about how to get things better in easy and enjoyable way. Go do some guerrilla gardening. Do some experiences with non-Newtonian fluids. Listen to some machine music. Or Dudeson yourself if you feel like it.
Technically, yes... American piss beer. You're in the UK, right? Either way, Miller beer had a famous ad campaign in the 80s. Now "Miller Time" has become synonymous with any occasion that warrants drinking. At least, for those of us who remember it.
The only Miller beer Brits recognise is Miller lite ... which was as you say piss - its only reasonable purpose was to make purple nasty since its taste was easily suppressed by the cider and blackcurrant
