Wisdom on Wednesdays: The Shower Reflex

No, I'm not going there. That's a whole other blog, folks. Trust me, this is a writing thing!

When I was at the SCBWI Writers' Retreat and Conference in Niagara Falls the other weekend, I had the enormous privilege of attending a workshop by Terri Farley, author of the Phantom Stallion series and the new YA novel, SEVEN TEARS INTO THE SEA (which is about, among other things, the legend of Selkies, magical creatures who can shed their sealskins to take human form, so I am super-excited to have a copy of this book!).

And I'm not going to blow the whole workshop; that would be unfair to Terri, and I'd do you a disservice, because I could never sum up all that Terri covered in one blog post. But there was one thing that I often do anyway, so I feel okay about sharing this one tip.

Terri called it "The Shower Reflex."

You know, that moment when you think you're done, and then you go get involved in something else (like taking a shower, or doing yard work) and your muse shows up and goes, "Hey, this is what you should have done in that scene!"

For me, this moment usually comes after I've submitted my manuscript. Which is obviously not ideal.

So, my wisdom for today is not to wait until the last minute to make those revisions. To make them a week (or five) before you need to have them done. Give yourself time for the Shower Reflex. Pretend you've submitted it. Really let go of it. Then go take a shower.

Do you make last-minute revisions like me and then live to regret it? Or do you give yourself time to subconsciously reflect before submitting?