fault in our stars – Writer’s Edit

We’ve all been there. It’s that period of time when you’ve just finished a life-changing book, and nothing can compare. When you’re experiencing a book hangover, it’s a lose-lose situation – you want to keep reading and living that double life, but nothing you read seems as good as the sheer brilliance that you’ve just finished. The last few that left us with seemingly unshakable book hangovers were: The Fault in Our Stars, The Interestings and Room. Those were dark times, there is no denying. But here’s how the folks at Writer's Edit battled through them, and how you can too: 1. Read something completely different The natural move after you’ve finished reading something awesome is to try and find something similar, right? Wrong! You’re only setting yourself up for disappointment. One of our writers made the mistake of reading John Green’s Looking For Alaska after The Fault in Our Stars. It just didn’t satisfy. So she moved onto non-fiction; Stephen King’s On Writing, to be more specific, saying that: It’s like having a wise sensei telling me it’s all going to be alright. And it will be! I finally feel like I’m ready to have my heart ripped out of my chest all over again…" 2. Therapy What we mean is, talk to someone else who has read the book you’re in mourning over. If you can’t find a nearby physical being – hop onto an online forum. You’ll have to filter out some less-than-desirable observations and comments, but more often than not, you’ll find someone else who is in just as many pieces about those fictional traumatic events as you are. Bond with this person, heal together! Another option is to reach out to your writers' group, you might even turn this into a productive conversation about writing! 3. Have a big ol’ drink That’s right. Slosh some vino into that inappropriately large glass and wash the pain away. Alcohol has a strikingly worrisome ability to get us to shed our inhibitions. For us nerds, those inhibitions are usually unsung praises and sorrow from recently read fiction. So, warn your partner, advise your housemates – tonight’s going to be messy. They may end up with a sobbing mess on their shoulder. 4. Cheer up Let us assure you, there are thousands of other books out there that are just as capable of turning your life upside down. So cheer up, buck up and get ready for the next one. Don't let your book hangover get you down! Image credit: Mircea via Flickr Creative Commons.