Ok now that I have finished my story in the writing phase, I was expecting to feel a peace and a sense of accomplishment....I am glad that it is finished....but I feel awkward about it. Like something is missing.

Any help or advice would be helpful

Have any of you felt this way after working on a piece for so long?

For me, I always feel a sense of accomplishment and finality, unless something is missing from the story content (A scene), or I just don't think it's that good (In which case, I edit it).

So are you suggesting that I keep going over it? Keep editing it until I "feel accomplished".....or when I add my illustrations it would be better?

Honestly, I'm not sure. I was just saying that this has only happened to me once after I finished the initial writing phase, and the reasons I didn't feel closure was because of those reasons.

I think, maybe, you should try asking yourself why you feel 'awkward' and not feeling the peace and accomplishment that you were talking about. But, again, I really don't know.

Okay thank you

This also happens to me sometimes, but not usually on a book I've finished yet. Often I feel it when I have worked on it awhile, but am still in the middle of writing.

Truly, I think the best advice I can give is: change something. One of the writer's great assets is his sense of instinct about when something is right or not right, and I have found that if I feel that something is not right, if I feel awkward about it, you know, it's worth my while to find what it is that is causing it, and then make it different.

Once, that meant cutting out half of my characters and scrapping most of my plot. I had not finished writing it yet, but I had written a great amount of words. It felt wonderful, though, because the discomfort of having the wrong characters and the wrong plot is pretty irksome.

Usually it's not that drastic, however. Once, I had to change the setting aesthetics, another time I had to rework several scenes, another time I just had to change the name of the book, which gave me a different perspective and solved the problem.

But the main thing is finding out what it is about the book that is making you feel awkward about it. Studying about writing techniques and principles could help you pinpoint it, and thinking over the main purpose and premise of the story could as well.

A book is never truly finished until it is revised and edited to be as good as you can make it.

I think im hoping it is good enough, because I felt rushed towards the end when I was trying to push to meet a deadline of wanting it done by.
so I guess I feel like I didn't do my best.... and so after a break, I will go back through it again and take more time with it.

* nods * Yes, that makes sense. I hope it goes well.

Now, this I have experienced before with quite a few of my stories. When I get close to the end, I get all excited and happy that I'm almost done, and so I rush the ending and the climax.

Yes this does make sense for me. honestly I feel awful about it. But no point, just go back and fix it....right?