A book launch is kind of like Christmas. There’s lots of hype and excitement leading up to the big day. The book is ready to go and the writer hopes everyone will like their carefully wrapped present. Then the day arrives and there’s a big flurry of activity, and when it’s over the exhaustion sets in.

The week after Christmas, the elation ebbs and it feels like the next book is so far away that it’s not worth worrying about. But you suddenly have time on your hands and you try to take a holiday but the brain doesn’t stop churning out ideas. Even if you know there’s another Christmas just a year off, you really want to start something new. But what?

How do writers figure out what to write next? I really want to know.

I have a few first draft books that linger in my files, unfinished. I know that I want to get back to them, to complete them, but the lure of the brand spanking new story pulls at me. The purity of the fresh idea and its potential whispers in my ear: pick me.

I’m a starter not a finisher. I race through the first draft, so excited. It’s the only way I get things done. At least with a crappy first draft there’s something to edit, lots of things to fix. But then, BAM. My mind puts the brakes on. Doubt sets in. Is that idea really working? Is it worth continuing?

I often fool myself with the idea that giving the draft some distance (time) will be good for it, so I tuck it away in a drawer like items bought in a flurry of post-Christmas sales and hidden for next year. Then other stories fight for prominence. The new characters jostle in my head: Me! Me! And the gift in the drawer becomes a distant memory.

Fortunately, deadlines exist. Deadlines are the writer’s saviour and foe. Like Christmas, they sit on the calendar like a bright beacon, but as they get closer a kind of panic sets in. Will I be finished in time? Is the book ready? When unwrapped will the present delight?

Yes, writers overthink things. We also look for diversions, like blogs and social media. But we do eventually get things done. I’m looking forward to the next project, whatever it may be.

Happy Christmas everyone!