I’m pacing around, restless. I finished a writing project and sent it off to a Beta readers. Now, I must wait. Whether it’s to a reader, an agent or a publisher, there’s a lot of wait time after a project is finished. Do you start a new project or pace until your feet ache?
I’d love to take a survey of writers to find out the answer to this question. Some people say they write every day and never stop. I can’t do that. I write a lot, but that’s a bit excessive. Other writers say they never stop writing, even if they don’t write every single day. I’ve stopped writing before, but each time I pick it back up, I feel as if I’m back home, as if I’ve returned from a long vacation.
Until I learn what others do, here are some tips I’ve found useful:
- Don’t start a new project until you are sure you’re ready to immerse yourself again. In other words, be wary of starting just to start.
- Write a series of blog posts to tide you over. You can schedule them out. That way you still have your hand in writing but are not committed to a new project.
- Consider writing some short fiction or short stories. Most novelists shy away from writing short stories. I’ve found that writing flash fiction helps keep my creative juices flowing. Yes, it’s a challenge, but isn’t that what it’s all about?
- Catch up on all those things you’ve been putting off. I know, you write to avoid all those things, but now is the time to do it. Whether it’s cleaning out your closet or emptying your cookies on your computer, if you don’t do it between projects, you’ll never do it.
- Call your friends and go out for coffee. While writing, you can’t see your friends as much as you might like. In fact, I’d guess many of us lose friends because we get so wrapped up in the stories in our heads. Pick up the phone, call, text, email and enjoy doing things you cannot do when you’re writing.
- Take a look at the short fiction sites like Wattpad and submit a few items. These are the things you wrote in my tip above. Don’t be shy. You might even pick up a few followers.
- Go to Critiquecircle.com and critique a few of your writing colleague’s works. This activity keeps your fingers in the pot while you help someone else out. It might stimulate you toward your next project as well.
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