It’s always a weird time when I finish a writing project, especially a long one like a novel. I’m a pretty fast writer (usually!), so a 100,000-150,000 word novel takes me somewhere between two and six months to finish. While I’m writing, I’m in a groove—I try to write every day, and even when I’m not writing I’m jotting down notes, making edits, and generally focused on whatever thing I’m working on.

And then, one day, it’s all over.

I find myself thinking, “Okay, it’s lunchtime now; that means I’ve got an hour to write! Let’s get to it!”

And then I realize, “Oh! I’m done.”

Even though I love the feeling of finishing things, I don’t like that “Oh! I’m done.” feeling. Because invariably I go through the same process: as I’m working on something, I think, “I’m in the zone! The creative juices are flowing, and they’ll keep flowing forever! When I finish this one, I’ll just segue into the next one without a break. Writing is fun, right? It’ll be easy!”

It’s not easy. I’m not even sure it’s possible for me. I’m going to try it this time, though, because I really, really need to finish The Source. Right now, it’s a scattered series of scenes and a pretty good outline, but it’s also kind of a hot mess. And I can’t really go forward too much further until I finish it. I can’t exactly have four novels done in a 5-novel series, of which #4 isn’t ready to go yet. Especially when #4 is also the final book in a trilogy.

So, wish me luck getting back on the horse.