short and sweet
a little video experiment
In which I muse very briefly on the subject of what it feels like to finish a first draft and let go (for a bit)… the ecstasy and the emptiness of it.
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© 2025 Leah McLaren
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Hi Leah, I have been following your Substack postings for the last 18 months (give or take) and know this has been a very challenging time for you and your children. I hope you all "are on the other side" and finding joy in your lives now. I want to congratulate you for finishing your book draft especially during such a personally tumultuous time....you should be proud of yourself and I am inspired by your focus and creative resolve. I am not a writer per se, but I am a "creative" and definitely understand the empty feeling after completing such an intense body of work. There are feelings of excitement, exhiliration, adrenaline, exhaustion, anticipation and finally....calm. So...my advice is to enjoy the calm before the next stage of rewrites. I also want to say from my own experiences, that some of my most creative work has come out of the darkest times of my life. So I expect this next book of yours will embody your journey and I look forward to the shadows of dark and light.
Thank you for your brave video Leah. You chose a word, 'gust' somewhere in your monologue that captured the essence of joy & relief that I have felt often in my life as a writing man. It reminded me of time spent on the west coastline of Vancouver Island where you can experience mighty winds and where I mourned the death of my first wife while simultaneously feeling stirrings of elation from meeting the woman who became my current wife. The gusts on that shoreline brought me reassurance that I still had good times ahead. I can't wait to read of this new book of yours.