Yesterday was one of my milestone days. I wrote “The End” to my fourth YA novel and sent if off to one of my readers. As I got up from my desk I heard a voice.
“Now what?”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked, dusting my desk, finding overdue bills and crumbs from that cheesecake snack last week.
I got a smirk in response.
By that afternoon you couldn’t recognize this place. The laundry pile was GONE! Windows sparkly! Floors . . . you could see them. There was nothing stacked here and there.
“Now what?”
Where was that annoying guy, anyway?
Who cared?
I was off to the garden, or where the garden would be if the weeds were gone. And they were by five o’clock. Just in time too.
Because that’s when I remembered the promise I’d made last week–the one where I’d make this super deluxe gourmet meal just as soon as I finished my last chapter. Gourmet meant actually thinking of something gourmet ish; it meant actually going to the market, then finding those pans at the back of the cupboard and remembering the difference between sautéing and frying, how to carmelize . . . those kinds of technical cooking type things I used to do automatically before . . . novel writing.
As I fell into bed and closed my eyes, self-satisfied and full of chicken cordon bleu, I heard, “Now what?”
What do you do after you’ve wrapped up your year/six-month/however-long writing project? Do you find all of those hours free from writing a luxury? A challenge? Something that worries you because at this moment you’ve accomplished a goal and now have to set a new one?
What’s your answer to, “Now what?”
As for me: After I finish my Monday Miscellany post, I’m off to town this morning. I’ve got some strolling to do and some books to buy at my local Indie, and then there’s the library meeting tonight and the website update and Twitter and facebook. The review I wrote last month should be put up on Goodreads. My lists of agents and publishers need updating and I want to visit a few hundred blogs to say hi to friends. Oh, and that project I started a few years ago and never finished, that blockbuster-surefire-gold star winning book about the kid who’s in all kinds of trouble . . . that has to be dug out of my C: drive and . . . .
BUDDY says
You're pretty amazing!
Now what? Well, when I finish doing something big and important, I take a nap.
Kelly says
Congrats, Lee! I bet that felt good to reach the last page.
Relax a bit before you start working on the next one (or the one on your C drive!)
Arlee Bird says
There's always something to do and I guess that's a good thing. I find myself in much the same circumstance. If we weren't busy I guess we might be sleeping…or dead. I think I'll choose busy and sleep when I have to.
Lee
Tossing It Out
Bish Denham says
YEAH! Another novel finished. Wonderful. As for what to do after a writing project? What isn't there to do…so much, including beginning another project.
Lisa Gail Green says
Haha! I don't think you're ever really done and free. But I'm glad you took some time to smell the proverbial roses. 😀 Congrats on finishing the MS! Celebrate.
MG Higgins says
While I look forward to "down time," like you, I don't know what to do with myself when it's here. (And weeding doesn't count.)
inluvwithwords says
Congratulations on completing your fourth novel!
Whenever I finish a project, there's the initial feeling of satisfaction, but then I slip into fear – that it may have been my last good idea. After a day or two of cleaning house, I usually have my next idea and it's back to work.
Enjoy your "free" time. Sounds like it will be short lived – what with that story already waiting on your C: drive.
M Pax says
Congrats on typing 'the end'. I move onto the next project. There's always one waiting.
Dana says
Congrats on finishing. Sounds like you aren't having any trouble answering "now what?" Enjoy.
Darby Karchut says
Yay, you for passing under that checkered flag! Well done and enjoy some down time.
BTW: We're supposed to clean our windows?? Like more than once a decade?? Who made up THAT rule?
Julie Musil says
LOL! I love this because it sounds just like me. When I finish, I feel a little lost for a while. But giving the house a good scrubbing is usually what I do. Not a fancy restaurant, not a bottle of champagne. No, it's Windex and me.
Theresa Milstein says
Congratulations on finishing! And good luck with your gourmet meal.
I always seem to be busy doing something.