Friday, September 24, 2010

Letting Go

I went on sub on Wednesday and now I'm trying to keep myself busy with something.

Anything.

I'm desperate.

So desperate that I even cleaned the house and folded laundry yesterday. *gasp*

But now that I'm done with cleaning, I'm confronted with the same problem again.

How to distract myself?

Many people say it helps to write something else. That sounds reasonable.

There's no better way to distract oneself than to focus on a new WIP, maybe even a SNI (shiny new idea).

I'd love to do that. I have two WIPs and had a SNI for a YA Thriller yesterday, so what's keeping me from delving into them?

The answer's easy:

THE OTHER LIFE

The book I'm on sub with. I spent weeks with revisions and the last few days with synopses for sequels. It feels like TOL has become a part of me. It's the last thing I think about before I go to sleep and the first thing I think about when I wake up.

I know the characters. Their fears and hopes. Their future and past.

I know what'll happen to them and I want to let it happen to them.

I want to write the next book. I want it desperately.

But working on the sequel to TOL won't do me any good if I want to distract myself from the subbing process.

I need to let go of TOL for now. Need to let go of the characters and the little voices (don't worry I'm quite sane) in my head telling me to write their story to the end.

Like with many things in life, letting go of a book isn't easy.

I'm still in the process of letting go.

How do you do it? How do you let go of a book and its characters, and delve into the next project? Is it easy for you or are you struggling?

12 comments:

Patti said...

It's hard to step back, but moving onto a SNI is a good way. I love that acronym.

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

Hang in there! It'll all come together. But I'm so excited for you! Seriously, though, if you can get yourself to refocus on another WIP, I think you'll find your anxiety easing. But, what do I know? I'd likely sit there waiting by the phone.

Susanne Winnacker said...

I promised myself to focus on my WIP next week. Maybe it'll actually work. :D

lettucehead said...

Hello, nice to 'meet' you. Best of luck, Susanne. I don't know the feeling (just yet) but I'm sure, as Carolina said, once you begin something else the feelings will go away and you won't even realize it. So I suppose you gotta just force yourself :)

Lola Sharp said...

I read and watch movies...get into someone else's characters/stories for a few days. That kinda 'cleanses my palate' and gives me some distance. Then maybe I write down some more idea for new stories. I do that until a SNI festers and niggles and finally demands my attention.
Usually by the time I'm done revising, I'm pretty damn ready to do something else.

This is my first time here. *waves* Nice to meet you. :)

Happy Weekend,
Lola

Unknown said...

This one is tough, sometimes it's easy for me to let go, other times it's a nightmare. I start to pick up books and read, catch up on my TBR list, and stop writing for a few days. The more I write, the more I can't let go of the characters, even if I'm writing about nothing. Stepping away from the pen and paper and enjoying time in the real world helps me!

This is my first time stopping by! It's nice to meet new people *waves* always fun!

Christine Danek said...

That's tough. I have other ideas which I go to now and again but it really hard to let go of my main WiP. I can't stop thinking of it.
Good luck. Maybe a little distance. Read a book or a couple may take your mind off it. Cleaning like you said always helps me. Although, it brews up more ideas. Yikes. Not sure if I helped you. Sorry.

Southpaw said...

Tough one, but I think time and distance helps make the shift.

Joanne said...

I often start by really going through the files that accumulated and cleaning them up, organizing, deleting the excess. It puts a finishing touch on the project.

Sandy said...

Letting go is difficult, especially if you've been involved with the project for a long time. For me, it usually works if I just force myself to work on a new WiP, outlining and spending all my time thinking about it. Eventually, my interests in the old project will waver and transfer itself to the new WiP. :)

Dayana Stockdale said...

Letting go? I haven't done that yet. Still on the first project. It sounds like tough stuff. Can't even imagine at this point! I guess it'll just happen organically, when the time is right, I hope.

Theresa Milstein said...

Everyone says to write something else. I've done "sequels", but I know it's a waste of time. Well, nothing is a waste because writing always makes us better writers.

But I suggest working on something else because if someone likes the manuscript, but not enough to rep you, but wants to know what else you're working on, you'll actually have something your'e working on!

Besides, if this manuscript doesn't go anywhere, you'll be well on your way to having a new one to query.