And Now I Have to Wait. I Hate Waiting.

You know that feeling you get when you finish a WIP? It's all sorts of flailing and happy and spinning in circles because YOU ARE DONE! It looks a little like this:

There's a moment of elation. I imagine angels singing...

Slow clap excitement

Flailing

Knowing that you are awesome. Woo! 

Once the excitement has passed, then you look at it and you know that you have to fix so many things. Because first drafts are messy and complicated. But if you are like me, you usually know some areas that need to be fixed and you fix them and send it to your CPs for further mutilation.

Just last week I finished my WIP.

This was a book that side-swiped me in December. I was writing the draft of book 2 in my trilogy, and it was going horribly. I was 50k in and it was a struggle to put words on the page. This voice with this first line came at me (as most of my stories do) and I was immediately terrified. I was talking with my friend Jenny that night (we were at a party) and I was telling her about the idea and she said, "You have to write that." And I didn't want to. I was busy. I had deadlines. So, I pushed it aside.

Then, my editor and I had a call the next week. I'd been having major issues with book 2. She liked it; I didn't. She said maybe it wasn't the right story, maybe I was forcing it, and I knew immediately she was right. Our result: we threw out the entire book. I had to start over. And I didn't want to. I'd been writing those books for years--I needed a break. I had time for a break. I had a new story. So, I wrote it.

I started writing DAYS LIKE THIS (working title) in January--and last week, I finished. Now it's chilling with my CPs. And I am just sitting here like:

PLEASE LOVE IT!!! LOVE IT. 

And simultaneously looking at all the other things I have to do and not wanting to do them because I feel like I am waiting. I hate waiting. I really do.

 But a good lesson to learn, dear writer friends, is that publishing IS WAITING. Even at the early stage before anything even happens.

The joy in waiting (er, kinda?) is that eventually everything comes back to you and you have to work really hard for months at a time. It's just getting there that's difficult. It's being patient, and listening, and working to improve yourself, your book, and honestly, distract yourself. I have to not think about it as much as possible.

When I'm waiting--especially after I've finished a big project--I usually have to take a day or so and decompress. I hide in the TV. Wander aimlessly. I don't even really tweet as much as usual. I need some time. It's my thing. And now that I've passed that moment, I have to start working again. I have edits to do, more books to write, and projects to edit! While I'm doing all that, I'll try to be patient--and I'll probably stare at Adam Levine gifs a lot. 

What do you do while you wait???