Pass the tissues

I'm suffering from writer's hangover. That's the malaise authors contract after completing projects. I get this twice a year: Story-a-day in June and National Novel Writing in December.

Call it Premature Enthusiasm or Post-Novel Depression, it has the same effect: a lack of desire to write for a while. No it is not Writer's Block - I have at least half a dozen short stories to build into books and another novel idea floating around with the characters evolving, the plot coalescing into something new.

It takes twenty-two days to form a habit. One of the good things about the marathon and NaNo is that it creates a rhythm of sitting down at the computer, everyday, for a month to write. You have deadlines to meet, worlds to create, everything for your stories and book/s. With ideas firmly locked in place for after the deadline funeral, you'd think I could blithely go forward. Nup.

For me, when that deadline is crushed into weeping submission, there's nothing left but a 'what now?' It's almost like catching a cold. You don' wanna do nufink, and, like a cold, you can only wait until it passes. Sure, you can take over the counter medication, like reading your favourite books, listen to inspirational music, watch a blockbuster movie, but in the end, it rarely works.

Editing holds no appeal, re-reading gives me an eye tick and re-writing makes my shoulders slump...

I love these challenges, they are the only two I do every year - but the crash afterwards is depressing. I should be fine in a couple of days; colds rarely mash me down for too long. It's the waiting that bugs me.

Ah, well. I'll soldier on. Tomorrow is story day at the Takeaway... I'll pluck one out of the pile...