Ask-A-Wench: What Comes Next?

Susan here — this month, a few of the Wenches are wrapping up the last stages of a new book, some are in the mucky middle, while others are starting something new. We got to talking about the process of tying up the loose ends on one book and starting the next one — and we have different approaches. Here’s what we said in answer to the question:

When you wrap up revisions on a book and send it off for copy edits and production, what do you usually do before you start the next project?

Andrea: Well, what I would LIKE to do after finishing a project is jet off to some idyllic island in Greece for month, lounge on a private beach overlooking the turquoise blue Aegean and have a private chef ply me with sumptuous food and fine wine. But first I would have to find my suitcase beneath the chaos induced by the panic of an impending deadline! So alas, the reality is not quite so glamorous. There are floors to be vacuumed, clothes to be washed, sock and sweater drawers to be organized into some semblance of order . . . and all manner of other mundane tasks to get everything shipshape. Because the next project is always looming, and that blank page beckons (promising that this time, everything going to be so much easier. Ha!) However, I always do make time to catch up with friends and take a few days of long walks just to unwind and enjoy all the little everyday beauties around me.

Mary Jo here, and I’m very familiar with what happens since I just finished a project this week!  Christmas Silks is a novella set in my Silk Trilogy world that I’ve wanted to write for years, but never had time before. But the process of finishing is always the same. The story is invariably late, and at the end the writing gets faster and the stress gets higher.  There’s a huge surge of relief when it’s done and hopefully okay if not brilliant.  I sleep later than usual and do pleasant, time-wasting things.  I look around at the mess that is my office and realize that I’d really rather write something new. <G>  I do some clean up, but not as much as I should.

Basically, I try to catch up on my life, and that lasts until I start getting an itchy feeling that I really want/need to be writing again. There is never a shortage of ideas for what comes next–but ideas don’t clean closets!

Anne here, and I’m much like Christina. When I’ve sent off a book to my editor, I’m a bit like a bear coming out of hibernation — I blink around at my surroundings. What is that pile of stuff? How did that happen?  Where are the clean towels?  So I tidy up, and then turn to tackle the various domestic chores that have fallen to the wayside in the last big push to finish the book. Then I usually catch up with friends. Not exactly exciting, I’m afraid.

Nicola: When I press send on the manuscript and it heads off to copy-editing, I usually sit back with a huge sense of relief, then go and make myself a celebratory cup of tea! I always joke that I will take a bit of time off, do nothing, read, go out, catch up with everything else… But in fact, getting rid of one story often seems to free my mind up to think about other book ideas, so it’s often quite a creative time. I don’t tend to start writing immediately, though. I will have neglected everything from the cleaning to the garden whilst I’m completely immersed in my revisions, so there will always be some practical sorting-out to be done. The best part of the between-books phase is catching up with friends and taking the dogs for long walks!

Christina:  When I come out of the writing cave the first thing I do is clear the decks. While working on a particular story I usually have a bunch of research books and specific items surrounding me and they need to be put away. The books get shelved in my reference section. Other research items might include photos, maps of the setting/places, and things like reproduction coins and jewellery from the period of time I’m writing about. I like to start my next project with a clean slate and it’s great to have a tidy desk for at least a few days. Finishing a book definitely calls for at least a mini-celebration too. As I’m not a fan of wine or champagne, I usually reward myself with some (ie quite a lot of) chocolate after I’ve typed THE END. Then I’ll forget everything to do with writing for a few days (sometimes weeks) and spend some time catching up on all the things I’ve let slide while being immersed in my fictional world – cleaning, gardening, baking and seeing friends. Until a shiny new idea lures me back to my desk and the cycle starts all over again …

Pat: Anyone hearing hysterical laughter? The next project? Finish? Let’s see, I am currently making last minute changes to the book coming out in January (Dilemma of a Dead Scholar) , because things happen in the Gravesyde Village series that ought to be foreshadowed in the Gravesyde Priory series—one of the dangers of writing related series. I have Book One of the new series in the hands of a copy editor and expecting the last revision back any day, so I’m rushing to finish the draft of Book Two. But I’m seeing things in Book Two that require me to go back to Book One, which also needs a cover and back cover copy. If all the timing goes right, we’ll be able to put Book One in the stores after I’ve finished going over the final proofs, while doing a last minute read of Book Two before sending that off to the first editor. And the whole time I’m doing all of this, my hamster brain is spinning wheels about Book Three, ideas which need to get down on paper while they’re fresh. . . But research is needed. So maybe I do research when I. . . okay, I never finish a project. So instead of saying Finish, let’s just say, I do research before I start the next book. I think this is what I do for fun.

Susan here: About a week ago, I sent off a revised manuscript, then spent a couple of days in the usual decompression: some cleaning (not as much as I should), a little reading, watching a movie with my husband, spending time with my big kids, going out to lunch with friends – and trying to relax (what’s that). Just now my workload looks like Pat’s: I just completed a medieval trilogy that required a lot of cross-checking details to tie things together; I’m drafting and researching and writing a Regency novella; I’m starting a new Scottish Regency that relates to previous books, so I need to relate the new to the old; and I have a few backlist novels to refresh for new editions. At the same time there are always family needs (we have a big busy bunch), household needs – and all the Stuff I really wish I had time to do.

One thing I like to do after wrapping up a new book is some three-dimensional creative activity. Writing is such an interior thing; all that writing, reading, editing, and revising keeps me hyper-focused on a two-dimensional page doing a lot of fine motor activity. So I like to do something big – move furniture, paint walls, work outside, be creative. I like climbing ladders and rolling paint on walls–I turn up the stereo, make a glorious mess, finish something creative in an afternoon, and also think about the next story. And I know just what color I want to try in one of the bedrooms . . .

What about you? When you finish a big project, do you jump right into the next thing, or do you take a break? What works for you?