In the middle of October I started writing a novella and I finished the heavy edit on January 11th. What do I do now? I was spending at least 20 hours a week on this thing in December and January. Should I give myself some time off now?
With both the novels that I finished recently I think I may have burned myself out a bit, and I took a month off after each, but at less than 40,000 words the novella doesn’t feel like it has taxed me to the same degree. If anything I feel like it has revved me up! Not to mention that I’m working part time now, so that’s 16 hours of “work” time I’m not wasting at work each week.
I think jumping into another novel right now would be a mistake, and even a short story so hot on the heels of so much work might be pushing it… But I do know of a flash fiction call for subs which is closing in February. Maybe it is what I need to slow me down just enough to get ready to start the next big project?
I would like to find a way to sustain my writing throughout the year instead of doing several months of intense work and then a whole month of nothing. I might try this pacing thing out and see if it works.
For the record, I got the Flash Fiction story in on time. I’m still waiting to see if it has been accepted, but it was exactly what I needed to fill the writing gap. Now I’m ready to go onto something bigger.
Just an update on this, in case you were wondering how long this writing game takes. The flash fiction story got ACCEPTED this week, and will be appearing in the Anemone Enemy anthology: https://www.oscillatewildlypress.com/single-post/2017/05/10/Anemone-Enemy