So...what now?

So. I've finished another novel - # 6 in case anyone is counting - and I've learned a few things. The biggest is that it's okay to have a messy first draft. My obsession with each chapter being perfect resulted in none of my early works being completed. I can't even tell you how many half finished novels I have sitting on my computer, the characters languishing, waiting for the day their lives can continue (and yes, that IS how I think of them. Always waiting for me to write their lives so they can have one). But once I let go of that obsession I finally completed my first manuscript. I won't say it's gotten a lot easier but I have learned how to move past the parts I'm not wild about, make some notes about how to change it, and get on with the story. I also found a new way to detour around the dreaded writer's block thanks to somebody in the bloggy world (thank you for that suggestion!) which is to write the end. Doing that helped me figure out exactly which direction to head in rather than taking a stab at it. And the last thing I'll share is the knowledge that finishing doesn't make it done. I knew as soon as I began writing that there would be revisions to follow and that those revisions (how many? As many as it takes) would be what really completes the book, turn it into the kick-ass scifi I envisioned when I started.

So. What now? Now I get to take a break and play with the SNTs (shiny new toys) I found or go back to an older unfinished work or maybe I won't write at all and just read. In a month's time I'll begin round two of the polishing process, after which I'll send it out to be read. Then we'll see if my story is as kick-ass as I think it is...


Now. What are you doing? Where are you in this crazy process we call writing? Taking a well-earned break? Furiously revising? Just found a shiny new toy? Do tell.