How to let go and move on

There are many ways to describe the relationship between a writer and what they create.  I suspect the most obvious and most used metaphor is that of childbirth.  You’ve given life to the work, making it, in turn, your child.  And it is indeed like a child, in the sense that upon publication you have to let it go so that it can make its own way in the world without you holding its hand, metaphorically, and making excuses for it at every turn.

I’ve never given birth and never will (for which I am hugely grateful – I’m far too much of a wimp to go through it!) but I have lived through the experience of children leaving home.  If they’re truly ready to take this giant step, then you’ve done your job as a parent – but what a painful moment it is as they drive away.

Of course, it’s a similar feeling when you finish a novel.  There’s a satisfying sense that you’ve done your job but then you have to let that novel go into the unknown, standing on its own, potentially lost for ever amongst so many others.  There’s hope but sadness too.  I know writers who don’t enjoy the writing process and are hugely relieved to finish.  But that’s not me.  I love the act of writing – and as soon as I’ve finished, I feel a bit empty, in the same way that I did when my girls left home.

So, what’s the remedy?  It’s actually ridiculously simple – just keep writing.  What this means in practical terms is that I’m usually already making notes at the very least on a new project long before I’ve finished the current one.  HOW HARD CAN IT BE? is launched on 1st June but already, in the middle of May, I’ve started the next one.

That’s my fix for the post-partum blues.  Move on with another novel – and set yourself a deadline too.  I’m hoping this one will be out in the Autumn.  Absolutely before Christmas.  And after that?   You already know the answer…on to the next one.  Because whatever the reality of it all, as writers we always believe that the next novel is going to be The Big One.

As always, happy writing!