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What do I do when I finish writing a book?

Finishing writing a book is an odd feeling. For one thing, I know the book isn’t actually finished. I’ve completed the major edits and returned the book to my agent but I know it needs at least one more polish and probably tweaks. And that’s before a publisher has even got hold of it …

Still, it’s a milestone, a feeling of accomplishment and lightness that it’s off my hands for a week or two. I’m not the kind of writer to grab the opportunity for loads of time off (not sure why) and I am the kind of writer to have left a lot of other jobs while I got my edits done. So here are the post-edit headlines:

• I tidy my study. To be honest, there’s not that much difference to be seen, except the timeline is no longer lounging seductively across a drawer while I obsess about it and there are no longer any notes hanging in the copyholder beside my monitor. There’s a little less on the floor.
• I do my annual accounts. I hate doing my accounts. Seriously hate it. I hate it so much that I had to eat two packs of Quavers in one afternoon to get me through. At least I didn’t cry, this year. (It’s not that I can’t do them – I used to keep other people’s books. I. Just. Hate. Them.)
• I understand why people who have jobs they hate hang out on Facebook.
• I work through my ‘to do’ list, which includes booking two holidays to Malta. Yes, two! For me! In one year! Whoop! I did this before I’d got to the bottom line in the annual accounts, but I’m not cancelling.
• I look at booking a ticket to the London Book Fair.
• I add some more things to my To Do list while I think of them.
• I relax. It’s a nice feeling to know that a huge project is coming to the end. Two, if you consider the hideous accounts.
• I go on with the course I’m adapting from Love Writing and think about the novella I’m to adapt for My Weekly. (Oh look – two more big projects!)
• I look forward to a complete weekend off.
• I begin to wonder about whether my agent will like my revisions. I feel slightly anxious, and not so relaxed.
• I think about the next book. I think I want it to be set in summer. Writing a Christmas novel and a Christmas serial this year has fried whatever Christmas spirit I have. (Not a great deal.)
• I consider having lunch with my gym friends and don’t feel guilty, even though I’m having dinner with them this evening.
• I hang out on Facebook and Twitter more than usual, mainly to whine about having to do my accounts.
• I read a lot of articles and watch podcasts about writing/publishing that have been stacking up. This is helpful but not, you know, actual work …
• I look at my website and decide what needs updating.
• I feel good.