The In-Between

When you complete a project you find yourself incarcerated in this bubble of euphoria and nothing can break that bubble… well except time and distance away from that project. Completing ‘The Prophecy’ felt like such an achievement, mainly because the whole process of writing a novel is splintered with episodes of exhaustion and self-doubt as well as the energy transfusions and euphoric moments of creativity. It’s a hard road, now so more than ever. A writer if they want to succeed cannot simply just write a novel and be done with it, no you have to create a social world in which to bring prospective customers to your doorstep, not that there is anything wrong with that, in fact at times it’s the opposite. We live in a global world now and personally the thought of myself connecting with someone on the far side of the planet still somehow mesmerizes me.

But here’s the catch… and this may not be everyone’s experience, but it is mine so far…

I forget how exhausting the road to writing and publishing is, how it can almost cripple a writer. Sure we mainly sit on our ass all day in front of a screen, but the research, the detail and the sheer energy used to get yourself into the head space of a character is a chore and can leave you tired and at times disconnected. When a tennis player hurts themselves even a little they take the injury seriously because they understand the importance of protecting their body and ensuring it doesn't come to any harm, because even one injury can lead to a downturn in their performance. And no, I am no professional tennis player or any kind of sports player in fact but in all the years that I have been studying and writing, I have come to respect exhaustion and what it could mean for my ability to write and my performance as a writer or academic.

The point?

Currently, I am stuck in the in between zone of publishing a book and going on to write another. This year I have written three books, and this is nothing to shout out about, I had to scrap the first and start over. I then went on to write my third novel in the series, the second not yet written.

Why?

I was tired out and instead of taking a well-earned break, thinking myself unworthy of such a thing, I jumped head first into the next phase of my writing. Of course I had spent a good year, planning this novel, I knew where it was headed and I also knew that in comparison to book number one, this book was a mammoth undertaking and I mean mammoth. I have about six individual stories, spanning across six kingdoms. I have three main story lines that follow the bulk of the main characters and then I have the smaller story lines, following the lives of what I like to call the peasant characters. I had to construct three huge battles from scratch, spending weeks just on research and quite some weeks figuring out the strategic points of battle. Anyway, in the end I finished the first draft of the third novel which is around seven to eight hundred pages and felt elated. Now I am here, in the in between and I am exhausted, and I spend much of my time wondering whether its normal to feel this tired out.

Listen to the voice of reason…

Right now I am sitting in front of a huge pile of work just for this second book, I have the third novel to re write and edit and I am tired. But instead of forcing myself to get stuck into work once again, I am going to do the right thing for my work and rest, even for a week or so. And the most amazing thing about resting is that your mind is given the space to be able to not only relax but to also challenge some of the story lines of your upcoming novel. Already, I can see slight changes and instead of freaking out, I simply right them down on a piece of paper and walk away. And if you’re worried that by resting you simply fall out of routine, you won’t. There will come a point where your mind will say, ‘right it’s time to get started again, I’m filled to the brim with ideas and my characters are bursting to get out of this space and onto the page’. When a player injury’s themselves they have to listen to the voice of reason, even if it means having to alter your schedule or routine, because at the end of the day you want your performance to be the best that it can and to ensure that happens you will have to make sacrifices.

So if you are like me a little tired and in need of rest, step away from your workplace and try, because this really is not as easy as it seems, to rest. With a little bit of TLC, you will soon find yourself back at your workplace, replenished and filled with creative energy. Working like a Trojan with no time for resting, will put you in a comprising state and in the end you will burn out and your work will suffer and the time it takes to get back together is longer and harder. But as I have said before, this is only my experience, you may feel differently.

Iseult x