Separation Anxiety

The first draft is nearing completion. It's so close. SO CLOSE. As such, I've been researching my next steps: revisions, beta readers, editing, cover art. A lot of writers suggest putting your manuscript aside for a while and then revisiting it with a fresh perspective before a rewrite.

This seems like good advice, right? But then I saw the length of time suggested.

Three. Months.

How does one stay away from their baby for three months? I know my manuscript doesn't breathe, but seriously, I haven't been away from it for more than a week since I wrote the first scene.

On one hand, it makes sense. You come back and read your story with fresh eyes and catch inconsistencies and problems with flow and all that.

But on the other hand, I'm pretty sure my manuscript has seen more of me over the past eleven months than my family and friends have. We're attached. I've spent more Saturday nights over the past year dealing with Ally and Matt than I have spent with my best friend. Which is really sad and I should get out more. But that's besides the point.

I'm experiencing separation anxiety over people who don't even exist. If I wasn't such an obsessive reader, I'd be concerned for my sanity. As I tend to be obsessive when it comes to fiction, regardless of the medium, three months seems like an egregiously long time. I've tried to throw myself into the companion novel (yay!) and it's made some strides but I still hear a certain song or whatever and crawl right back to For The First Time.

Trying to stay away is proving to be difficult. Maybe because there's something wrong with my brain. But through all this, I've grown to appreciate how much writing this book has meant to me and how much writing the next one could mean, too. Writing has become such a part of my everyday life, of my routine, of me, that I can't imagine not doing it.

So, for now, I'm trying to stay away. I'll turn down Ally's voice and turn up Sarah's as I try for the currently elusive fresh perspective. Here's hoping it'll all be worth it.