Moving On From a Project is Hard

Super hard, actually. And I'm having an even tougher time moving on from this one than I did the first time.

I think it also partly has to do with the extra craziness going on right now: moving to a new city, getting ready for my first year of teaching without hyperventilating. But yeah, it's been a couple months now since I wrote The End on my first draft of my second novel. I've started getting some feedback, which has been fantastically helpful, and which I've incorporated, and I'm trying really hard not to blow my patience and start querying and submitting before its ready. It should be ready soon.

And guys, I can not even tell you how excited I am about this novel. I think that might be the other part of the difficulty. I feel so invested in this project, I almost can't imagine coming up with anything else that I care about as much as I do this. I've put so much of myself into this novel, I guess I worry I've given up everything I've got.

But that's just silly, I know. Maybe it will just take a little bit more time, but once I've got this thing really polished, gotten a little more feedback to make sure it's ready, I'll start sending it out and moving on to the next big thing. That's what I'll focus on in the meantime, just making sure this novel is the best it can possibly be. The other thing I'm trying to do is work on some smaller projects. Not quite ready for another big novel just yet, but I've actually got some ideas for picture books and a one-act play floating around that I'm going to start playing with.

Do you get the finished project blues too? What do you do when you're in between?

Sarah Allen