I handed in the first draft of a book today1 and—like every time I finish a first draft—I feel as though I’ve climbed out of the deadline cave and am left blinking at the bright light of *waves hand* all of the things I have neglected while getting the book done.
Much like every author has a writing process that is unique to them, I have an “end of huge project” process that feels entirely my own. Yes, I do plan to celebrate handing my first draft in with a glass of something bubbly, but I also plan to unpick the mess that focusing on one thing there has been dominating my working life for what feels like ages.
Here’s what my post-first draft ritual usually looks like:
Clean my desk and workspace
I like to keep a pretty tidy desk to begin with, but after handing in a draft, I usually will do a full clean-up, including dusting. (Probably my least favorite chore.) I don’t know when this started, but I suspect I have always been inclined towards this sort of tidying up. After all, whenever I finish a knitting project, I pull everything out of my knitting basket and get rid of all of the old labels and scraps of yarn that have fallen to the bottom. The desk tidying instinct feels the same.
Clean my digital space (aka give some attention to my unanswered emails and projects)
I try my best to keep on top of all aspects of work when I’m writing, but at some point when crunch time kicks in I will usually drop everything but the most urgent tasks in order to focus on finishing a draft. That means I now have emails to sift through, social media posts to schedule, Substack articles like this one to write, etc.
I am also behind on boosting some author friends’ new releases over on social media, so I will be catching up on that because I believe in being a good literary citizen.
Coincidentally, congratulations to Genevieve Graham on the publication of On Isabella Street and this month’s Ask an Author featured writer Laura Morelli for the publication of The Keeper of Lost Art! Both books came out this week and are well worth a read!
Look at the month/quarter/year ahead
I’m a planner through and through, and this first draft happens to have coincided with (nearly) the end of the first month of Q2. That means I’m going to be going back to my weekly, monthly, and quarterly planning tools to see what lies ahead for me and if I need to make any major changes to the plans I had made.
If you’re interested in a deeper dive into the sort of planning I do to keep my author business (and my life in general) going, let me know in the comments and I’ll see what I can put together.
I find this weekly dashboard planner from Ink + Volt really useful for giving me an overview of what I have coming up for the week ahead.
Build in some active rest
Probably the most important but also most easily neglected of all of my post-deadline rituals is active rest. By that I don’t mean rotting on the sofa in sweatpants for a week (although if that’s what you need after a deadline, by all means please do), but rather:
1) focusing on things that have nothing to do with writing
2) refilling the creative well
This might look like picking up my knitting or going for long walks in the countryside, which are highly meditative and fulfills option one, or reading, watching, or listening to media that doesn’t relate to my book topic (option two).
Now it’s time for me to take a deep breath and…relax.
US-based fans of my Evelyne Redfern mysteries, I have some late-breaking but very good news! You can now get 25% off your preorder of A Dark and Deadly Journey (Evelyne Redfern #3) at Barnes & Noble until the end of day April 25th.2
Click the button below to find the book and enter the preorder code PREORDER25 at checkout.
Also, if you haven’t yet read the second book in the series Betrayal at Blackthorn Park, you can get the same 25% off discount on the paperback edition, which comes out in September.
Postscript
What I’m reading: Story of a Murder by Hallie Rubenhold
What I’m watching: Season one of The Lincoln Lawyer (because I watched it without The Gentleman and now we’re catching him up)
What I’m listening to: “Relationships” by Haim
What I’m knitting: The Sailor Swift Top by Veronika Lindberg
My likely 2026 historical novel, which does not yet have a name but when it does I’ll be sure to share it here!
This sale is open to Premium and Rewards members. It’s free to join at the Rewards level.