Highs and Lows! How do you guys do it?!

[carole gill]

My revision is going well.
It's shaping up and my work hasn't been tossed into a furnace or anything yet.
But then I get these highs and lows--peaks and dips.
Any advice for a slightly hysterical, occasionally confident, but somewhat neurotic first timer?!
Advice appreciated!

[Dave Zeltserman]

My highs are all when I'm writing--it's when I finish something and am shopping it about, or waiting for a book to be released or reviewed is when the lows seek in. The best way for me to combat that is to keep writing.

[carole gill]

thanks so much Dave!
I will, excellent advice.

[Pepper Smith]

If you're in the middle of revisions and you're hitting some lows, you might want to take a short break, go out for a walk, call an old friend, just do something else for a little bit, so you don't end up doing something you'll regret to your story. Writing and editing can be pretty intense experiences. Sometimes we just need to step back for a few hours and let our brains reestablish some equilibrium.

[carole gill]

you're right, breaks are good.
getting away from it does help. but then I worry I should be working on it, but it can then be counter productive--
good advice I will definitely take.
thanks Pepper!

[Josephine Damian]

Have a life/interests/friends outside of writing - that helps to keep it all in perspective, IMO.

[carole gill]

you're right.
I thought I did, but I think l let the writing overtake it.
not good. but at least I'm realizing it. thanks josephie.

[Declan Burke]

Hi Carole - If you weren't "slightly hysterical, occasionally confident, but somewhat neurotic," then you probably wouldn't have written the book in the first place ... And the lows are actually good. They're there to remind you that what you're doing is quite serious and important, so that when you hit the highs you can really fly. Embrace both as best you can, they're part of the process. And try to enjoy ... Cheers, Dec

[carole gill]

I needed that!
I guess that's true, really--if I didn't feel things the way I do I wouldn't write.
what a positive way of looking at it.
many thanks, Declan!

[Declan Burke]

You're more than welcome, ma'am ... Cheers, Dec

[Dana King]

Nothing to add, except to keep slogging away. Everyone has highs and lows. The fact you're having them, too, means you must be doing it right.

[carole gill]

yes I'm realizing that I suppose.
it's all part of the process.
thanks Dana

[C. M. Albrecht]

Hey, I go through this all the time. Sometimes for a month or even more I feel that it's all over. I'll never write another word. Then sometime in the middle of the night I'll wake up with a little idea, and even then I may toss this around for a long time before I force myself to sit at the computer. Then I play solitaire games for hours on end, but finally I can't do that any longer and I actually have to start writing. I'm not sure about how others deal with this, but I don't have a method. Some say to sit down and write something, even if it's "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy."
Evidently that worked for Stephan King. Good luck and keep going!