Getting back to your story after a long time away

[Feo Takahari]

If I've been working on a story every day, my natural tendency is to continue working on it. If I've had so much homework I've been unable to work on it for several days, my natural tendency is to only commit to short, easy activities like watching movies, especially if I know I've got more homework coming soon and I'll be dragged away again. This means that I can go several weeks without working on a story, then realize I've cleared up my schedule enough and can finally return to it.

Unfortunately, when I haven't worked on a story for a long time, I often discover that my voice is all off. A character whose speech is plain and simple starts using fancy words, a character who's supposed to be temperamental becomes even-handed, and in one memorable instance, a character with no concept of self and an inability to use personal pronouns plainly described the emotions she was feeling. In some way, I need to reaccustom myself to the characters.

My standard solution has been to edit instead of writing--I return to the last couple chapters I wrote, and I look for things that clearly feel off. This gives me more of a concept of what isn't off relative to the story, and I can then write in that style. Unfortunately, I have much more difficulty writing new scenes than editing old ones, so this sets up a difficulty spike at the end. In addition, if I suddenly have a new pile of homework, I may be dragged away having edited but not written, resulting in my editing the same chapters several times and eventually becoming bored with the whole thing.

Who else here has an uneven schedule? How do you return to a project you've been pulled away from?

 

[Penpilot]

Yikes. I don't envy you, sir. For myself, when I was in a situation like yours, I put aside writing until I finished school. I tend to be one track minded like that.

As for some ways I get back into characters after I've been away from them awhile, I go back and read an older scene where that character is being who they are. Sometimes it's the first scene in the story. Other times it's somewhere in the middle, but for me, it's always a scene where there's a lot of conflict. That way you get the feel of your character really acting and reacting to things that get thrown at them.

Another way I use to get back on track with a character is I focus on what they want, overall and in that scene. In my head, I put it all in context with the story as a whole, and then, I just write. I don't try to force things. I just keep it simple. Basically what I'm trying to do is color within the lines. I may not color all the way to the edge, but I can push that during editing.

 

[writeshiek33]

me too i have non existent schedule

 

[Chilari]

Most of the time my schedule is fairly reasonable, but in April everything went crazy. I was moving house, I head a big deadline for an important project at work that meant I was working three days a week in a city two hours away and staying in a hotel up there as a result, and also my Dad (who worked for the same company) retired and I was meant to be making secret arrangements regarding cards, collections and cake for that. So April saw almost nothing at all written. Even towards the end of April, after most of this was sorted or at least not so stressful any more, and I took a few days off work to deal with moving hosue stuff, I didn't write anything.

This month I decided to change that, and I've been doing that by blogging my progress every night, similarly to the Writers Work check in thread. It's motivating to be accountable like that, and blogging the first part (what music I'm listening to, my thoughts and plans for what I'm about to write) gets me into the right mindset. I am struggling a little with getting the voice right, because my protagonist/narrator has a lower level of education than I do so I sometimes have to think a bit about my word choices, but mostly I catch it before I've got to the next paragraph. And there's always editing later, which for me is very firmly going to remain in the "later" column until the first draft is done.

I think I might keep a spreadsheet too, in order to record my progress and give me the chance to analyse what works in terms of times I write, circumstances I write in, average words per hour etc.

 

[Julian S Bartz]

With my first novel I actually wrote half of it, left it for almost a year, finished it, and then rewrote it 6 years later. It was definitely hard to get back into the rhythm. I found though that the key is to actually just start writing, even if it isn't great stuff. Get something down on paper, you can always go back and fix it.

Particularly if you feel your character speech etc aren't consistent anymore. This is something that you can smooth out in the final draft.

But going back and reading a chapter or two is crucial, if anything just to remind yourself exactly what you were writing when you left off.

 

[Scribble]

This happens to me more often than not. I have a tough job, 4 kids, a wife who is ill, a house to manage, and a hyper golden retriever to walk. I don't have what is often referred to as "free time". It happens that I am away from actual writing for long periods of time. I try to compensate by using "in between" time for story-imagining. I keep my notebook handy, and I scribble notes on commute, I think about story building while walking the dog, in the shower, or doing the dishes.

I am always exploding with ideas, but lack the time to put them into words. I try to plan time for writing on the weekend, but it almost never seems to happen regularly. So, I try to write on my commute, that is really the only time that is wholly mine, the "in between" time.

I try to make sure I sleep well at night so that I don't end up sleeping on the train, but can really put ideas on paper with some energy.

The challenge I find with this start-and-stop-and-start-again writing mode is that I come back to the work with a critical eye, with less passion. This is good for editing, I think, but bad when I really should just be pushing through with the first draft, ignoring those voices that say this is goofy, boring, cliché, or whatever. I have many unfinished works, and I think this is part of the problem. I am trying to deal with it in terms that work with my time and energy levels.

It ain't easy, but I'll get there somehow.

 

[skip.knox]

I'm with the "just do it" camp. I get pulled away from stories, but mostly by other stories. I get an idea for a short story in the middle of a novel (which is where I'm at right now).

Everyone fusses over aspects of their writing, so it's probably something you can't help, but I'd say don't worry about those changes in voice. You can treat it as something you'll clean up in edit (I mean the edit you do when the entire thing is drafted, not chapter by chapter) and not worry about it. For myself, my characters shift voice all the time. I let them do it. I take it as a sign that I still don't have a clear idea, either of who they are or, if that's known, how to express who they are.

For example, in my current short story I have an ogre. He's not stupid, but he's an ogre, which means he's not a human, which means I want his speech patterns to be different. In some places he sounds almost simple. In other places he waxes philosophical but in a Runyon-esque way. In still others, he's not simple but merely monosyllabic.

Part of the issue is I never know exactly how much of the story a given character needs to carry. So I might start off with a character talking like a peasant or a gangster or whatever, but later in the story I find they need to have some technical discussion of magic, or know a fair bit about the political situation. Whatever. The voice originally chosen needs to shift.

In short, I don't worry about it. I let all sorts of aspects remain pliant as I get the story out. Once the bones of the plot are in place, the character details shape themselves to it.

Your Writing May Vary

 

[Michelle Ann]

Don't envy you because I've done and nothing more is a pain in the ass. To be honest, the only thing I could do was just keep bashing out what came next until the voice returned and then edited that section once I was back in that frame of mind.

Good luck with getting back on it.