Emerging from Chaos: Relishing the Post-Draft Cleanup

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Maybe I’m just weird, but there’s something euphoric about the post-draft cleanup period … when the manuscript reaches its (temporary) end and the keyboard-punching squalor in which I’ve been living finally goes away.

Out go the late-night fro-yo bowls, the drained mugs with solidified coffee residue at the bottom, the piles of notecards, the “reference” books, the illegible pencil notes, and the reams of print-outs bloody from my Bic round stic pen. Oh, and the random sweaters I kept taking on and off. And the receipts I meant to file away. And the inboxes that look like George Costanza’s wallet. And the to-do list for my non-writing life that’s been completely on hold for months.

Having just finished (“finished”) the next installment of the Desperately Ever After series, I feel like a chipmunk emerging from its den at the end of winter. It’s a new beginning! Alleluia! I’ve got books to read, interview Qs to answer, and a family to stop ignoring! The world will shine anew and I’ll breathe easy once again.

Well … until the next round of revisions, anyway …

A writer’s work is never done, is it?

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