I recently completed the first draft of my fifth manuscript that’s set in India. I challenged myself to write at least a thousand words a day and planned to complete the work by Christmas. When I reached that goal, it was time to take a break—time to read more again and do some of the activities I’d set aside.

But what next? As I’ve stated in a previous blog post, I’m not going to begin an edit yet. Instead, I’m going back to a previous story I had professionally edited some time ago and will work on that.

Time allows us to see our work fresh again, so when I do return to tackle the first draft, I’ll be looking at my work with fresh eyes. Besides, what’s the rush? It’s better to take our time and do the best we can before submitting any of our work.

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