As a writer there is nothing I love more that burying myself in my characters and plot. Clacking away on my keyboard and leaving the real world do what it wants. Sometimes I can lose myself for hours on end and forget to eat and drink. However, there comes a time when the story telling ends, and the last chapter is written. I hate writing that last word.
Because then I start to panic! I know what is coming next. Hours, days and weeks (sometimes months) of proof reading, correcting, editing and rewriting. On top of worrying, loss of self confidence, fear and a concern that the story doesn’t stand up. It’s my complete loss of confidence time. It’s also the time that I become completely fed up after reading the damn story a hundred times. I have just been through this for the last two months, and I think I need a personality transplant.
Thankfully, this painful period is nearly over for my latest book Louis. I am at the point where I think I could recite it word for word. But I know that very soon, I will release it to the world, and if it is read or not, I know that I at least have read it for the last time. What a relief.
So now, it’s back to clacking again on my keyboard and losing myself again. Until the next time that dreaded last word arrives.
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Its the same when reading the last chapter of a good book & slowing down because you know at the end you will miss the characters & you have to face the day to day of ordinary life!
I'm working on a blog right now about my experience of having written and finished my current book. (Also Known As DNA). Will post to Twitter when done–but i must say, my experience of it is different.
I know that if I have read my book fifty or a hundred times in the process of writing and editing, and I am still interested in it, it can still evoke emotion in me, (laughter, tears, excitement) then I have got something worth letting someone else read. And I re-feed my well and immediately start on the next book, with just as much enthusiasm. Perhaps it helps that I am also an editor, and have that process down, and also edit a lot as I write. At some point I will finish that book about being a writer, and my process, sharing the things I have learned. But am focused on the novels right now. Congrats on your completion and good luck on the next project!