Do you have post story slumps?

I think I do.
Anyone who read my previous blog entry will know that I just finished the first draft of my next novel. A novel I am really excited about. It's been 20 years in the making and at last I have produced a version of it that I am happy with, And when I finished it, I was all bouncy and chirpy and excited and I did my first round of edits really quickly. Then I reread it myself, twice, and found a bunch of tweaks and mistakes to correct.

Then I finally had to put it down. :(

At first, after that, I thought, great, let the imagination go, come up with plot number 2 for the same series, and, believe me, I'm trying, but I can't help feeling a little bit down about book 1. It's like a child has left home and even though they'll come back for visits, they're for all intents and purposes, gone. Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to getting it out there in the public domain and the work for that is different and maybe not quite so much fun as writing it, but still challenging and interesting.

However, now I have to climb a new mountain to get to my next creative place and at the moment I'm in the bottom of a valley. It's a little dark and lonely here, I miss just being able to sit down and have my characters instantly there in my head. I have to get over the foot hills of an idea, before I can do that. I've been trying to find a path into them for a couple of days now, and, having said that, I think I've stretched the metaphor far enough! ;)

Having come up empty, I think it might be a chance to go off and work on other projects. It's not as if I don't have enough of them tucked into my little brain. I am loath to walk away from this one, I have become very attached to all my characters and their trials and tribulations, but a period of separation is called for to allow the ol' creative juices to bumble along without any pressure from my impatient psyche.

So, onwards, to another mountain (there I go again with the geographical metaphors!) and let's see if I can't jump into another universe. Come on muse, we've got some trekking to do!