The importance of letting your novel draft rest

Once you’ve completed an initial evaluation of your manuscript, it’s time to set it on a back burner for a while and let it simmer. Taking a break after writing and completing an initial review of your novel draft is crucial for several reasons. First, it gives you the opportunity to gain a fresh perspective on your work. When you’ve been working on a manuscript for a long time, it can be challenging to see it objectively.

Taking a break allows you to come back to the manuscript with fresh eyes, making it easier to spot areas that need improvement. This can also increase your objectivity when evaluating your own work. During the drafting process, you’re likely to become attached to certain ideas or phrases. Taking a break can help you become more objective about your work, allowing you to make changes that improve the story without getting bogged down by your initial attachment to certain ideas.

Taking a break at this juncture can also help you recharge your creativity. If you wrote your first draft as quickly as I have recommended, you’re probably feeling all wrung out now. Writing is a creative process that can suck the creative energy right out of you. Taking a break can help recharge your creativity so you can keep going. Stepping away from your manuscript for a while can give your mind a chance to rest, allowing you to come back to your work with renewed energy and ideas.

Taking a break between drafts can also help you switch your brain from writing mode to reading mode. It can help you identify any gaps that may exist in your story. After taking a break, you can better see the manuscript as a whole and identify any gaps or inconsistencies that need to be addressed. This can help you make more significant revisions that improve the manuscript’s overall quality.

As a gardening writer, I also sometimes refer to this step as “composting.” You’ve added your raw materials, and now it’s time to leave them alone to assemble themselves into something new. Your subconscious mind will continue to turn this compost for you while you work on something else. Which – for me – is usually starting that next novel!

And what should you do with your time while you allow your first draft to rest? Set it aside and go to the planning stage of your next novel, of course! Once you have written the first draft of your next novel, you’ll be ready to set it aside and return to the draft that has been resting. The second novel will rest while you finish writing the first one. At some point, you’ll probably also plan out a third novel. The trick is to not let any one draft rest for too long. As soon as you have that second novel planned out, come back here and continue to work your way through the remainder of the evaluation process.

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Now that Jack has been forced to reflect on everything he has to lose, he resolves to do better. He’s determined to spend more time at home with his family and repair the relationships that have suffered over the years while he’s been so focused on work. But as Callie’s behavior becomes increasingly bizarre, Jack realizes he has a lot more room to improve than he realized – and it might be too late to save his daughter after all.

For fans of We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Push, and Baby Teeth.