Sitting with a draft

Once you FINALLY have a completed draft, you can and should celebrate!

But, when you're two to three to ten drafts in, finishing one feels less like an occasion to celebrate, and more like a task to check off your list on your way to the elusive and non existent Completed and Polished Manuscript.

I'm definitely in the boat where I want to keep going because I don't want to lose out on the momentum I have. As if, with enough time away, I'll never return to said manuscript, realizing my time is better spent trying to sew a straight line.

And, I think this makes sense because habits are really just daily choices that become second nature after making the same choices over and over and over.

BUT, I think getting too close to a piece of writing, spending months editing, reworking, adding new chapters, deleting chapters, it all gets to be a lot. Once you're so immersed, it's really hard to see where the problems lie. Whether it's pacing or character arcs or dialogue or something else.

Whereas, when you step back for an indeterminate amount of time, when you do re-engage with the draft, you can see things you might not have picked up on before.

So, drafts are great, stepping away is helpful. How do you keep the momentum going in the meantime?

• Mood Boards - for the book, for the MC, for the world you've created. This gives you something to focus on that's in the world, but also not really related to the writing bit.

• Re-read your favorite dream comps. Figure out what these books are doing well and how you can use what you learn to make your own story that much better.

• I personally don't love drafting a new book until the previous one is a Completed and Polished Manuscript. BUT I like beginning to outline some of the growing list of ideas I have for other books I want to write. It helps keeping those writing muscles strong, but in a looser, bigger picture way.

All this being said, I plan to step away from THE ETERNAL NIGHT SOIREE (my Adult Fantasy about a Lord who curses a town in order to recreate the night he lost his one true love, in the hopes of being reunited with her at last), for about 2-3 weeks before completing the FINAL draft that will go to Betas and then hopefully into the query trenches to die a slow and agonizing death until I figure out how to self publish.

What tips do you have for taking time between drafts?