I wrote a novel. Now what?
My friends, I have got a wicked case of the Decembers.
It happens every year. NaNoWriMo ends, and once the TGIs are all O, I’m left trying to remember how I filled my time when I wasn’t writing a novel. (Or, let’s be realistic, updating my word count on the site, tweeting about my novel, talking to other people about writing a novel, and doing very important things in order to avoid working on my novel. I’m pretty sure I spent more time doing all of those things than I did actually writing in November.)
I always say it’s like riding a really scary roller coaster. When you’re on it, you’re not sure why you thought it was good idea and you’re a little worried you might barf. Then you get off, and your immediate response is, “Oh my god, I’m so happy to be off that crazy thing.” (The “Thank God It’s Over” party is aptly named.) But then you go back to riding the carousel or whatever, and it suddenly seems kind of boring in comparison to the thrills-a-minute near-death experience of the roller coaster.
And yet, given how little motivation I have for anything right now, it’s just as well I’m not trying to accomplish anything useful this month. Apparently, my response to a sudden onslaught of free time is to do absolutely nothing. Or at least, it feels like nothing in comparison to how much I was accomplishing last month. I’m dragging myself out of bed every morning like I’m facing a firing squad instead of my computer. And I’m working in my pajamas a lot more than I should admit to on the internet just because getting dressed seems like so much effort. (This is both the blessing and the curse of working at home.)
It’s not surprising. After all, we spend November in a break-neck sprint fueled by adrenaline, caffeine, sugar, and a weird combination of peer pressure and comforting companionship from our fellow novelists. (This doesn’t make NaNoWriMo sound very healthy, does it?) It’s hardly shocking that the crash from that absurd high is a big one. It doesn’t help that I got my traditional post-November plague on November 12, and I’m still fighting off the last of it now.
I’m powering through, sort of. It feels like an accomplishment to be writing a blog post about how unmotivated I am. (Is that irony? It might be irony.) I have so many things I should be doing, and I’m staring at my to-do list wondering how much of it I could convince my cat to do.
Have you been hit with a nasty attack of the Decembers? How are you coping? And, more importantly, any ideas how I can train my cat to answer email?
– Sarah
Photo by Flickr user jsoffer
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