Last week Joshua’s featured article was about the editing process, and when to realize Enough is Enough. Timely advice for me, as I’m going through that final clean-up stage for my own book right now. I’m not ready to let it go just yet, but I’ll own up to my blurry-eyed, obsessive state, which tells me that I at least need a temporary break.

So it’s time to fess up, all you writers out there, because I know I’m not alone. Here are my top 10 signs that you’re either losing your mind, or maybe you’re just WAY too close to your fantasy WIP! Rearrange these as you like, depending on your personal level of insanity. All in good fun…of course. 🙂

#10 – You do a double take as you’re driving down the road—you swear you’ve just seen something from your story world flash by in real life.

#9 – You’re describing to a friend all that your main character is going through, and they mistakenly think you’re talking about an actual person.

#8 – You have an inexplicable craving for fire roasted meat and ale (even though you don’t drink alcohol).

#7 – Your browser history is full of gruesome searches on things like medieval battle wounds, death rates, and treatments, or how ancient poisons were made and used. You’re sure by now you’re on a watch list somewhere.

#6 – Your family is ready to stage an intervention, and even the cats are walking back and forth across your keyboard in an attempt to get you away from it. And by the way, that robe you’ve been wearing all week is ready to walk itself to the wash…or sacrifice itself on the way for the greater good. Yes, I went there.

#5 – You can’t fall asleep at night because your characters might go on doing things without you, and you’ll miss it.

#4 – When you do fall asleep, you’re being chased all night long by that 20-foot troll your character was fighting just before you went to bed.

#3 – You’re alternately excited and terrified to find out what your beta readers think. While you’re waiting to find out, you react to every email notification sound like one of Pavlov’s dogs, and get super annoyed when it’s only spam.

#2 – You’re feeling so much guilt and grief over killing off one of your characters, that you’re ready to turn yourself in to the authorities and make a confession.

#1 – You wonder if you get rich enough from selling your books, you could buy an island somewhere, re-create part of your book world there (kind of like they did in New Zealand for the LOTR movies), and just live there already. A writer can dream anyway!