So
you finished your novel! That’s great news! Congratulations! It can be a great
joy to finish. There’s also this sadness too, for me at least. If you’ve
written a novel and finished and edited and polished and have it out on
submission, now what do you do? The best thing to do is write another novel
while you’re waiting. But that can be extremely difficult. You might still be
attached to your last novel. Or you might not have ideas to write a new one.
Whatever the case, it sucks, I know, because that’s where I’m at right now. But
there are many other things you can do in the meantime
You
can write in your blog or research agents and or publishers. Don’t just wait
around for responses. It will do you no good. I know this because it happens to
me all the time. I have to force myself to do other things. And when I do,
naturally I feel better.
I
think the biggest problem I have is not having a clear direction. When you don’t
have an agent or editor cheering you on or asking for rewrites or telling you
what direction to go in, you have to direct yourself. When you’re a writer, there
are a lot of things you have to do on your own. It can be really lonely. But it
can also be very rewarding too.
So
let’s talk more about the things you can
do in between your novels. Again, as I said, you can update your blog. You can research
agents and publishers. You can switch gears in your writing and write a
different genre or category—from adult to young adult and so on. Another big
part of being a writer is reading. You can take this time and catch up on
reading a novel or two, or several. Go at the pace you are most comfortable at
doing. Writing in a journal and writing short stories and poems is also another
great avenue to try. Just remember if you write a short story or poem, you can
submit it to magazines and possibly promote your platform that way too.
Just
because you might not be writing at the moment, doesn’t mean you’re not a
writer. There are plenty other writerly things you can do. And when you are ready
to start the next novel, you’ll not only have another finished novel on your
hands, you’ll have another novel to query with—in case the previous one doesn’t
work out. Sometimes it takes several novels to get that deal you’ve been
dreaming of. Even when you want to quit, DON’T! Just keep trying. If you keep
trying, you’re bound to succeed.
