Writing a book is a huge undertaking. Be it fiction or nonfiction, you are pouring your heart and soul into something magical.

The beauty of words on a page, words coming from the very depths of your soul is something unmatchable and priceless.

And as you type "The End" or "To Be Continued," you have just finished writing one novel.

Maybe you just finished NaNoWriMo about two weeks ago. You're still riding on that high, but as we move on into December, you may be thinking, "Okay, now what?"

That's where this post is here to help you out. Here are five things you can do when you finish writing a novel.

1. Celebrate...

Duh. You've done something AMAZING. Whether you wrote this novel in one month or one year, you've accomplished something so freaking wonderful. You started and finished a novel. Do you know how many people give up in the middle of writing a novel?

Celebrate! Go get some cake, ice cream, pie, WHATEVER THE HECK YOU WANT. Go buy that jacket you've been eyeing in the store or those pair of yoga pants you really want. (just me?) Reward yourself for finishing this big thing!

2. Set your novel aside...

You're excited and ready to get your novel in shape. Maybe you want to self-publish (a totally great option) or maybe you want to go traditional. You want your book out there. You worked hard on it and you want other people to see it.

Which is why I'm telling you to set it aside. You may be thinking, "Brooke, what the heck? I have to edit my novel now so I can get it ready for the next step."

Yes, every first draft novel needs to be self-edited first. Saves you money in the long run if you edit your own manuscript before passing it off to an editor later down the line. But here's the problem with editing your book right away... it can mess up your progress. Setting it aside will save you time. A lot of authors set their books aside for about four to six months. When I first heard this, I wanted to scream. How would this save me time? It only delays my progress.

Six years of writing my first book and here we are. You know why? I tried to edit the book right as I finished. And deleted basically entire manuscripts every time. You have to have fresh eyes that have not looked at the book for a long time in order to edit rationally. Otherwise, everything will look like trash and you'll have wasted time writing.

Don't be like me. Set it aside and you'll actually finish faster.

3. Focus on a new project...

You probably have some other book ideas swirling around in your head right now. They've probably come up when you were writing, so you wrote them down and set them aside to focus on your novel. Well, you're novel is done for now, and you have time to write something new. So go for it! Write a new novel while you let the other one rest.

Begin your outlining process or whatever your process is, be it outline or just sitting down and typing away at your computer, getting words down.

It's okay to begin a completely separate novel, actually, it's beneficial in getting your mind off the one you just finished. Write a new novel because, when all is said and done, you'll have a few manuscripts lined up so you're always generating new content for readers.

4. Pursue your other hobbies...

Do you like to paint? Read? Blog? Whatever you're other hobbies may be, chances are you've neglected it while writing your novel. Pursue one or more of your other hobbies while you let your book rest. Maybe you can't focus on a new writing project right now. This is the perfect distraction.

It's okay to not write all the time. I struggle with this, especially after writing for so many days in a row and creating a habit. (Totally fine to write non-novel things such as blog posts or even journal entries.) Nourish your other artistic and creative abilities.

5. Go on an adventure...

Go outside and do something new. Or just go for a walk. Ride your bike. Enjoy nature. You probably didn't go out much when writing because you were focused. So now's the chance to go do things you didn't do while writing. (Don't be a hermit like me, peeps.)

There's so much to be done when you finish a novel, but you have to let it rest. That is the biggest thing I can say about writing. And trust me, it's hard. I finished my second book EVER and all I want to do right now is edit like mad. But if I do that, I know I will trash the entire manuscript, wasting all the writing time I spent. And that's not okay.

So, I'm going to work on a novel that I've been really passionate about, one that I really haven't paid attention to. But I'm in no rush to work on it or write it. I have to outline first. Otherwise, things get messy.