Walk Away!

I finished my draft in March! It's a rough draft, and short, only about 40,000 words, which is less than half as long as it will be when I'm done. But, it's there! And now, I'm walking away from it for a week or so.

I have learned that sometimes the best thing I can do for my work in progress is to leave it alone for a bit, especially when I've come to the end of a draft. When I've told the story as much as I can for the moment, I can close the document on my computer and let it marinate a bit. I'll work on something else, or focus on the other parts of my life, or just go for lots of long walks. Like magic, my brain will start to turn and I'll realize things about my characters that I couldn't see before. Or, I'll solve a plot problem that was vexing me.

I'm taking notes during this time away from my manuscript and when I open it up again next week, I hope to be able to dive right into the revision and start adding detail and scenes, and further developing the hints of themes and new plot threads that are already there. I'll let you know how it goes!