Writer's Hangover

Everything swam before me in a fog... All I craved was a nice, quiet space and a steak and cheese sub. Maybe some Tylenol. I couldn't focus. It was as if my brain melted into pool of gray and white matter, and it was all because of last night.

A late night. A night to end all nights.

In one hell of a bender, I completed my fantasy manuscript! No. No drinking was involved, and yet, along with the sense of achievement, nothing prepared me for my body's complete shut down mode when the sun rose.

​Okay, so it wasn't a real hangover, but it sure felt like one. 

In addition to the physical exhaustion, there was that *teeny* bit of depression that slammed into me like a freight train. Have you ever been on vacation, and you get that sense of dread Sunday night before you're back to school or work? Yeah, it's a little like that.

​Hence, writer's hangover. It's real.

Now, this isn't my first time at the rodeo. This is my third novel; however, I never experience'd writer's hangover this badly before. I attributed it to the fact that I had been working on a trilogy, and trying to end a saga with characters that I fell in love with was like a long, drawn-out, painful good-bye to a loved one. I wasn't ready to let it go, and yet at the same time, I was dying to check off that milestone and work on a shiny new project. (So much for my beloved characters...)

This manuscript took me the longest to complete. I toiled over writing it for almost a year, and the six months of sporadic editing was pure torture. I've changed the ending at least three times. I felt like Sisyphus- pushing that 80k word boulder up the never-ending hill of expectation.

I'm sure any writer who has finished their manuscript has felt that skull throbbing headache after closing their laptop. Or the the sandpaper sensation against their corneas with each blink of an eye. What's a writer to do? Hair of the dog? I guess the author equivalent would be writing some more... Maybe some could manage, but I went with the TLC route. I got some extra sleep, lounged around Barnes and Noble, sipped some coffee, and played Kingdom Hearts 3 (is it me, or the bosses significantly harder than 1 and 2???).

I'm a bit nervous of falling into a hammock of laziness, but I have a few weeks until Camp NaNo. Sometimes it's okay to ease up (At least I tell myself)- so for those experiencing writer's hangover with me: it'll get better. For those that are still writing, don't forget to take care of yourself.

Time for a brownie and a bath.

Peace
J.E. Klimov