I Typed "The End". Then Someone Asked About Dinner

I did it. I typed “The End” for my third novel.

Writing is amazing. Writing a book when you are still an aspiring, unpublished author is a truly interesting limbo. It still sits in the category of a "fun hobby" that you hope will become something more one day. Yet, I have found so much joy and creative fulfillment through this process. Writing gives me something to look forward to every single day. Ironically, having that creative escape helps me stay more present for my kids and allows me to enjoy my everyday life even more.

But it’s fascinating what happens when you finish. Once you have researched, written, rewritten, and finally slammed your whole heart into a story, you type those final two words sitting all by yourself, and then...

Nothing.

There is no explosion of fireworks. No crowd cheering you on as you run across a finish line. No one to wrap a cape around you and hoist you up on their shoulders.

When I typed “The End” on my first novel, I sat there basking in absolute awe that I had written an entire 95,000-word book. A second later, one of my kids walked up and asked what was for dinner.

Even without the fireworks and the cheering crowd, when I typed “The End” on this third full-length novel, I felt just as euphoric—if not more so! This book flowed much more easily. I learned so much from drafting my first two. I actually started this one thinking I would just type up some scribbles I already had made in a notebook, but I was instantly sucked into the world. This first draft is a zillion times better than the first draft of my debut novel.

I recognize it still has a long way to go. There is a mountain of editing work ahead of me, but it is the pure joy of the process that keeps me coming back for more.