Good morning all you lovely souls,
I’m back! Yes I missed yesterday’s post. I worked a double and was exhausted because I’m also still working six days a week. So I’m trying to be gentle with myself even after missing yet another post. But I’m hoping all this will be ending soon. Thank you for being here and for understanding and for sticking with me through all this crap.
So, today I wanted to discuss what happens after you finish the first draft. I’m not talking about editing or reading through the draft. What I’m talking about happens directly after finishing, after the celebration of your accomplishment. Maybe the very same day or maybe the next. This stage could even last more than one day depending on the writer and their process. What I’m talking about is the drought of ideas and creative motivation altogether.
If you’ve finished a first draft then you’ll know what I’m talking about. this feeling like you’re on top of the world and you want to write more and work on finishing another book, but as soon as you sit down the feeling leaves immediately as though you never had it in the first place. The complete lack of good ideas.
I experienced this the very next day after finishing my most recent project. I wanted to write, the motivation was there, but the ideas just weren’t coming to me. I was looking for my next big project, my next big idea. But it just didn’t come. I spent the entirety of my single day off grasping desperately for any idea that popped into my head, but they were all trash and didn’t inspire me. I was stuck in a drought, dying of dehydration.
The whole day I struggled with this. I did everything I could think of that usually helps spark ideas and great ideas. I blasted music until I could hear nothing else. I ate snacks, drank coffee, binged TV. Nothing.
Then, I gave up. I put music on, jammed, did some chores. I gave up searching for my next big idea knowing I was trying too hard and it was not going to come to me.
Then, it hit me. like a 60 tonne truck. I ran faster than I’d ever run in my life to my laptop to capture this brilliance. I wrote the first scene of BK 1 of an idea I already had, but it suddenly clicked where I needed to begin. Then I got another spark, piggy-backing off the first for BK 2. I opened a new document and wrote that down too and it swirled around me. The ideas flowing and capturing me in a whirlwind. The idea when I sat back and looked at it had be so excited.
I kept thinking to myself how trippy it would feel for the readers finishing BK 1 and moving onto BK 2 and how they would feel so immersed in the story that it was changing as they read it.
Be gentle with yourself. Sometimes the ideas aren’t flowing or coming to you because something much bigger is brewing. And this is the biggest, most connected idea I’ve ever had. It was so exciting and motivating. Now I have my next big idea and so many books too write. The idea got me back into writing. It happened quickly, but I think it’s because I let go sooner than many people would have. I gave up on that new idea very early on. So early that I’d only struggles for one day.
The feeling is great. So be gentle with yourself and stop worrying. Stop worrying that you’ll never have anymore good ideas. You will, you just need to let go first. You need to give up. You need to relax. You need to do the things you love that make you feel calm and fulfilled. Let the writing go and don’t be upset about it. Don’t force it, forcing it never works.
Well, thank you so much for tuning in. I hope you enjoyed this topic despite the title. I’m not saying to give up on writing. I’m saying to give up on that next big idea and once you do and you relax. it’ll come to you. The best ideas come when you’re doing something else right? So let’s play that to our advantage as idea makers, as writers.
Okay, I think that’s it for me guys, I’m still really tired after the long week I’ve had and it’s still not over yet. Wish me luck! Lot of love! Please comment below if you found the title jarring or unappealing and maybe why you enjoyed the post despite the title. I’d love to hear from you. You can talk about anything. Happy reading and writing guys. Until next time, bye.
Celine Rose Marie
