If you’ve written a book then you know once you write The End a very odd thing happens in your brain. I thought I might not be the only person who would benefit from a little look at Writer Trench Coat Syndrome. (Bear with this is my 26th go-round with the oddness that happens once The End is written …)

Gold-standard Writer Trench Coat Syndrome. 🧥
You’re buzzy because holy hell, you did the thing.
Flat because the adrenaline packed up and left without saying goodbye.
Twitchy because your brain is pacing like a caged ferret looking for the next plot to bite.
Nothing is broken. This is your system recalibrating.
Here’s the move that works best for me (high-output, plot-smart, allergic to stagnation):

The 72-Hour Rule (very scientific, absolutely made up, extremely effective).
What follows is my pep talk to myself so I don’t lose the plot after writing two novels this year!
For the next three days:
❌ No opening [EMP].
❌ No rereading [FFS].
❌ No “just checking one scene” lies.
Instead:
✔ Write notes only if ideas ambush me.
✔ Do something physical once a day (walk, tidy, garden, menace a vacuum cleaner).
✔ Consume a story without analysing it (this is hard, I know).

My job is to lower the noise floor.
Give the brain a chew toy.
I clearly need one. Choose something harmless:
Draft the worst possible blurb for [EMP] (on purpose).
Write a scene where two characters lie to each other about something trivial.
List ten crimes that would be fun to write, deeply inconvenient, but not fatal.
This keeps the ferret occupied without letting it eat the furniture.

Name the itch.
When I feel the twitch, I literally label it:
“Ah. Post-completion restlessness.”
Sounds silly. Works frighteningly well.

What happens next (so no one panics).
In about a week:
[EMP] will start whispering smarter solutions.
[FFS] will feel oddly distant (good, objectivity incoming).
I’ll get a clean, confident pull toward one clear next task.
That’s the moment to act. Not before.

Right now? I’ve earned the wobble.
I’ve stacked serious work.
And I haven’t lost momentum, I’m just coasting briefly before the next thing hits.