I feel like I may have written about this before, so if you’re a long-time reader, bear with me. Last week I typed ‘The End’ on the first draft of my eleventh novel and after celebrating and jumping around, I feel a bit… lost.

(There are two asides in this sentence:

1. I’ve read debates about why writers type The End at the end of their stories, do they keep it in the book, if they don’t why type it at all and I’m like LET US HAVE OUR CELEBRATION. No I don’t keep it in the finished book.
2. I really can’t believe I’ve written 11 novels. Like, I look at the files in my ‘wips’ folder and there they are, and yet… it seems unreal.)

One thing writers love more than actually writing is giving advice about writing (and then not following that advice) and the MOST IMPORTANT THING I’ve always heard is that after you finish a first draft, you must put it away. Let it rest, ideally for two months,* some say. I consider it a win if I’m able to stay away for a week, but as I’m writing this post on Saturday and I finished my draft on Wednesday, I’m only halfway through that waiting period.

(Another aside: considering how quickly many self-published writers publish, a long waiting period between drafts is simply not feasible. I have writing friends across the publishing spectrum and the two-month advice typically comes from the traditional side.)

So what does a highly-driven person who is incapable of sitting still DO. I’ve worked hard to create the habit of sitting in my writing chair every morning and churning out words, and now I’m floundering because I don’t know what to write. I need an outline before I can truly begin a new book but my ideas need to percolate a bit longer before I’m ready for that step with the new ideas.

I had this past week off and I tackled a number of smaller house projects, started loose outlines for those two book ideas, went through all my clothes and donated a number of things I no longer wear. Really the only thing left on my list is to read emails, and there’s a reason I have so many unread emails—who wants to read emails on a sunny day?

Time away from our writing is a good thing. It’s important to give our brains a rest so we can recharge and come back to our work with fresh eyes and a renewed energy. But no one tells you how difficult it can be to step away!

How do you give your brain a rest when you finish a big project? And writer friends, what should I DO?