Tuesday, February 22, 2011

What now?

In case you missed the FB post, I finished. Yup. Rocky 3.0 (not the book's real name) is done, again. And now, I don't know what to do with myself.
Yes, the manuscript still needs work, especially the second half. I've got another WIP that's been sitting on my hard drive, untouched, for months. It's going to rock. I think. I've also got an article due way soon.
I don't want to do any of it. I've got finger block. It makes my fingers itch.
Just so you understand the origins of this terrible disease, it began by typing 1000 + words a day. A great exercise to keep my butt in the chair. The problem is, once my fingers hit the keyboard, they itch to pound it. And now, MS finished, they can't.
I'm not going to revisit my manuscript until it sits in my hard drive for a while. This is necessary to get some distance between us because let's face it, this relationship was getting way too intense.
I'm not going to start writing the other book until I reread what I've already done. It's been a long-distance relationship for a while, and you can't just start where you left off with an old flame.
I can't really start the article until I do more research.
There is no way to cure this seven-month itch.
My fingers want to type something useful, but the brain doesn't have any waves to send down to the digits. I don't want to do anything (I earned this break, and I'm going to rest or else!) , but I can't break the habit of working. So if I sit here with vibrating fingers and nothing coherent comes out my fingers, you'll know why.
Free Cell, anyone?

6 comments:

Crystal Collier said...

Some of the best advice I received came from a friend, a literary agent. She said "Keep writing." Yup. Just that simple. Thankfully I'm never at a shortage of ideas to write, so I bounce between 19 (I kid you not) different manuscripts, dependent on my mood. Doesn't matter what you write. Improvement comes with practice, and it will be nice to have something sitting ready in your vault when that first manuscript lands a publisher. =)

MTeacress said...

Conratulations on finishing, and I agree it's wise to let it brew for a bit. I always benefit from doing the same. :)

Maria Zannini said...

You wrote a blog post. That's useful. Now write some more to post later.

Blog posts have a calming effect on me. They let me write, free think and give me much needed space from my work in progress.

Congrats on finishing the manuscript. You are smart to give yourself some breathing space before looking at it again.

Catherine Denton said...

Congratulations on finishing! Have some coffee and chocolate. You deserve it. ;D

Kari said...

Congratulations finishing your book. I've no doubt you'll have another 16 projects you will be involved in by the end of the month. I'm sure the not knowing what to do with yourself won't last long!

Melanie said...

Hmm, sounds like you might be ready to do some serious critiquing on my book. Are you up to it? Anyone?...Anyone?...Bueller?