Rules of Writing - 7

"I feel a little numb."
Eric looked over at me with a confused expression on his face.  "What do you mean numb?" he asked.
"Numb.  It's odd.  I'm not feeling anything."
"What did you expect to feel?"
"Something.  Marvelously happy! Celebratory."
He angled his head to one side and asked, "And you don't feel happy or like celebrating?"
I leaned forward in my chair and said, "I should, shouldn't I?  I should feel something but it's all kind of flat.  I do feel like celebrating but it's more like I want a drink.  At least that was the first thing I thought of."
"I can understand you wanting a drink after all that work."
"You see, that is where I go flat again.  All that work.  It was a lot of work.  I mean, I wrote an entire piece of fiction, 73,000 words or whatever, and it hasn't registered with me.  It's as if the fact that I finished it hasn't caught up with me yet."
"But you did finish it."
"Yes.  I did."
"And it's a huge accomplishment.  You should be proud."
"I should be, but it doesn't seem that I'm feeling anything right now.  Will that change?"
"I'm sure it will."
"You're sure?  Because it's really odd and I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do right now.  I was concentrating so hard on staying focused on finishing that now I'm at a loss."
"And you have finished.  For the present."
"Well, yes.  I know there will be more work since it's only a first draft.  But I wouldn't let myself think about that while I was just getting myself to complete it."
"Exactly.  So you need a short break before the next process starts."
"A short break?"
"Yes."
"Hmmm, Okay, I think that makes sense.  It all seems a little unreal to me right now.  But I have finished."
"Yes!  Reason to celebrate, don't you agree?"
I hesitate a moment and then nodded.  "Yes.  You're absolutely right. Finishing an entire first draft of a fiction novel is reason to celebrate."
"It is.  Congratulations!"
"So do you think we could go grab a drink?"  I started to get up from my chair.  "Do you think Josh can come, too?"
TT