Loss of momentum

[Incanus]

Well—I’ve lost all momentum on my novel. I spent about 5-6 weeks working on a long-ish short story, and now I find I can’t easily return to work on the novel.

I’ll need a way to reengage with the WIP, but I’m not sure how. I have spent a little time looking over the material, reading through the next chapter of the ‘half-draft’ I have, but I feel lost and aimless now. The project doesn’t look or feel as good to me as it used to. It is showing the same shortcomings all my works seem to have.

(I also have difficulty proceeding with this when there is zero feedback of any kind, and none to be had in the near future. I can’t shake the sense that I have problems in the narrative that I don’t even know about, and that will compound if I continue blindly ahead. This is a separate matter, but could be related. I’m just not sure.)

I’m wondering if this sort of thing, or something like it, has happened to other members. How did you get your project rolling again?

 

[Mad Swede]

The only rule I have is to write when I sit down to write. It doesn't matter so much what I write, only that I write. If I'm having trouble focusing on the current work in progress I write something else. I always finish the stories I start, it's just a question of when I do so. It can take a couple of weeks, and then I'm back to writing the story.

To be honest, for me the only time when not being able to focus on the story is a problem is when I have a publishers deadline coming up, and then it's almost always a question of making the changes required/suggested by the editors.

 

[Devor]

You could try some kind of writing exercise, like rewriting a scene from another POV, or write what your villain or some other interesting non-POV character might be doing right now. You know, write something on the periphery, that you don't plan to include, so it's lower pressure and higher on your enthusiasm. It might give you a fresh perspective and remind you of all the cool things you're trying to write about.

The worst thing is to just stop writing. You don't want to lose the habit. So keep writing something, whether it's your novel, or an exercise, or some other project. Eventually you'll figure out what to do next.

 

[Oldgnome]

Sometimes I find I am asking too much of initial drafts. Many writers insist that the first drafts of their best stories have always been dreadful. One thing I have noticed in my own writing is that the motivation of a character is sometimes not clear. I sometimes need to think about the lead character and work out what they are striving for, for good or ill, and whether that motivation seems natural to them. It is often a character's genuine desire in whatever predicament that lights them up. Once I have arrived at what is motivating a character then I feel they are independent - even of me. This is in contrast to situations when the characters have become puppets out my own motivations or demands. I agree with Devor that coming back to the story after working on other projects may help you. This often helps me.

 

[pmmg]

Well—I’ve lost all momentum on my novel. I spent about 5-6 weeks working on a long-ish short story, and now I find I can’t easily return to work on the novel.

I’ll need a way to reengage with the WIP, but I’m not sure how. I have spent a little time looking over the material, reading through the next chapter of the ‘half-draft’ I have, but I feel lost and aimless now. The project doesn’t look or feel as good to me as it used to. It is showing the same shortcomings all my works seem to have.

(I also have difficulty proceeding with this when there is zero feedback of any kind, and none to be had in the near future. I can’t shake the sense that I have problems in the narrative that I don’t even know about, and that will compound if I continue blindly ahead. This is a separate matter, but could be related. I’m just not sure.)

I’m wondering if this sort of thing, or something like it, has happened to other members. How did you get your project rolling again?

What you need is the rules...Which, in case you forgot... are below.


Goldie's Rules
1) Write Everyday.
2) Finish it.
3) Don't seek feedback till its finished.


And a quotable:
Goldie's Quotable
4) Write it ugly. <--Give yourself permission to.

Just that little bit and you can write 50 novels.

Here's the real secret, even when you are writing it ugly, it does not read that way later on.

Oh...and a key
Goldie's Keys to success
Persistence and Attitude

If you want the full course...it is here:
Goldies Words of Wisdom

 

[ThinkerX]

Well—I’ve lost all momentum on my novel. I spent about 5-6 weeks working on a long-ish short story, and now I find I can’t easily return to work on the novel.

I’ll need a way to reengage with the WIP, but I’m not sure how. I have spent a little time looking over the material, reading through the next chapter of the ‘half-draft’ I have, but I feel lost and aimless now. The project doesn’t look or feel as good to me as it used to. It is showing the same shortcomings all my works seem to have.

(I also have difficulty proceeding with this when there is zero feedback of any kind, and none to be had in the near future. I can’t shake the sense that I have problems in the narrative that I don’t even know about, and that will compound if I continue blindly ahead. This is a separate matter, but could be related. I’m just not sure.)

I’m wondering if this sort of thing, or something like it, has happened to other members. How did you get your project rolling again?

You get through this situation by writing at least a little every day, especially if you don't feel like it or think that work sucks. I used to take an old cooking timer, set it for an hour, and do nothing but write until the bell rang, ignoring all issues of quality. After a while, I noticed that the words flowed more easily after the first paragraph or two. Eventually, it becomes a habit.

 

[Penpilot]

I try to approach every story with two things in mind. One, I'm going screw up, and two, if I write to the best of my abilities at the time and push it to a "finish," I'm going to learn something from screwing up.

It's not finding the perfect solution that matters, it's going through the though process of just trying that I think is most important. You may end up with a flawed story at the "finish," but that's part of the process of learning. Over time, you'll find yourself running up against similar problems. And because you've tackled these problems and pushed through in the past, you have experience and hopefully a dash of wisdom to draw upon. And you'll have various approaches to solving the problem in a way that will allow you to move ahead.

If I don't know the right solution, I'm going to try all the wrong ones I can until I find one that works.

With that said, over the years, I've planned and outlined in more and more detail with each successive project, which makes for much cleaner first drafts. But I found I'm able to do that because of the lessons learned from pushing through and making my mistakes. Because there were a lot of things that I didn't know that I didn't know about writing and about my process. And there are plenty more I'm sure to discover.

So, I my solution is/was to simply write, finish, and move on to the next thing. If that means leaving a trail of flawed stories behind, so be it.

 

[pmmg]

I try to approach every story with two things in mind. One, I'm going screw up, and two, if I write to the best of my abilities at the time and push it to a "finish," I'm going to learn something from screwing up.

It's not finding the perfect solution that matters, it's going through the though process of just trying that I think is most important. You may end up with a flawed story at the "finish," but that's part of the process of learning. Over time, you'll find yourself running up against similar problems. And because you've tackled these problems and pushed through in the past, you have experience and hopefully a dash of wisdom to draw upon. And you'll have various approaches to solving the problem in a way that will allow you to move ahead.

If I don't know the right solution, I'm going to try all the wrong ones I can until I find one that works.

With that said, over the years, I've planned and outlined in more and more detail with each successive project, which makes for much cleaner first drafts. But I found I'm able to do that because of the lessons learned from pushing through and making my mistakes. Because there were a lot of things that I didn't know that I didn't know about writing and about my process. And there are plenty more I'm sure to discover.

So, I my solution is/was to simply write, finish, and move on to the next thing. If that means leaving a trail of flawed stories behind, so be it.

Excellent post ^

 

[SamazonE]

When I write I have a clear idea in my head. Other wise it does not plan out. I also allow differences for what I expect. There are the scenes that never make it. I expand on those that I do not intend to. I save a place at the end of the document for all those things that give me inspiration. Sometimes I include a language all on my own. As soon as I feel like working again I often use all this as inspiration to proceed.

 

[pmmg]

When I write I have a clear idea in my head. Other wise it does not plan out. I also allow differences for what I expect. There are the scenes that never make it. I expand on those that I do not intend to. I save a place at the end of the document for all those things that give me inspiration. Sometimes I include a language all on my own. As soon as I feel like working again I often use all this as inspiration to proceed.

Just sayin', But I am not sure I have ever had a scene appear on paper that matched the cool thought I had that put it there. But...i still got a cool scene down on paper.

Hang in there Incanus. You are beating yourself up too much. That's breaking rule 4.

Goldie's Rules
1) Write Everyday.
2) Finish it.
3) Don't seek feedback till its finished.
4) Don't beat yourself up.

 

[Incanus]

Thanks for all the positive replies and thoughtful responses. It’s good stuff to hear.

I think the specific issue here isn’t about establishing a habit—that’s been done before. It is about re-establishing a lost or badly battered habit.

I should have made it more clear that I am not writing an initial draft for this novel—that has already been completed. This is a first-round revision phase, where the main goal is to develop my unreadable initial draft into a readable first draft. I’ve gotten all of Act I done for this revision so far.

The problem with the suggestion to work on something else is that working on something else is what caused this problem in the first place. I probably shouldn’t have spent more than a week on the short story I worked on, instead of the six weeks I did spend.

I’m afraid pmmg’s suggestion not to beat myself up is a non-starter. Beating myself up is what I do. It is one of the ways I get myself to improve. I’m kind of a rule-breaker, at least sometimes.

I think the thing to do is basically—BIC: Butt in Chair. Tonight, I will try getting some small amount of work done. Even fifty or a hundred words at a time might get the ball rolling again.

 

[pmmg]

Oh man, Editing is the fun part. Its where you get to put all the art into the project. Not jus tab the canvas with blue here and red here, but vibrant blue here, and flaming red there.

I get it. It's easy to fire off platitudes across the screen to others. And I hope they will be helpful, but if it was easy, everyone would do it. Its because few do that we are so special. What I post is built out of 30 years of trying to figure it out. I does not easily transfer to people at different places in the journey.

One of the things we do as we move through the craft is learn who we are. What we are good at and what we are not. And how much grit do we have. There are ways around the stuff we are bad at, you could get AI to do it. But I want you to be the full package. You can do it all, and confidently, and well.

Hang in their Incanus, the reward is pride at what you can do that cannot be replaced by anything else. You have it in you, I know you do.

 

[Prince of Spires]

Picking a project back up that has been ignored for a while is hard for me. It's hard to keep the flow of the story in my head.

That said, when editing, it's not always a bad thing to let something rest for a while. It's actually the most common advice (which I completely ignore...) about starting an edit. Of course, you're halfway through the edit already, but it still counts. Get some distance and you'll better see what needs work.

Personally, if I had a complete draft (even if it's a half draft) and it gave me the feeling that something's wrong with it, I would try to figure out that feeling. I wouldn't jump back into the middle and just continue editing. I would start at the beginning, and read it through. I would take lots of notes and try to figure out what parts of the story need fixing. How are the character journeys structured? Do my character motivations work? Does the plot make sense? Is there progress in each chapter (even if it's backwards progress)? What parts feel slow or boring? That sort of thing.

If after reading it, you find that all is well, then continue with your edit. If you find parts that need work, then do that first and make sure the story structure is fine. There's no point in fixing details at the end if your high level changes end up ripping out the chapter you're changing. And if you find that your story is broken beyond repair, then I would abandon the story and just start the next one (or rewrite this one from the start as a new story). All 3 are viable options to me.

 

[Incanus]

I spent some time with the project last night. Instead of revising the next chapter, I spent time trying to figure out where character backstories might be added. I deliberately avoided including any at any point in Act I. This work sort of helped get me a little more engaged with the material.

I don't think there is anything fundamentally wrong with the story. The biggest difficulty so far has been management of expo/explanation/details. I did about three extra rounds (after the initial revision) of going through Act I to add more and more, and it still isn't right yet.

There is no small amount of 'custom inventions' and history that a reader needs to follow the story, and getting this part right has been excruciating. My sense is that I'm a bit shy of the necessary skill level to pull this off.

I hope I can pick up the revision process by Friday night.

 

[skip.knox]

>Picking a project back up that has been ignored for a while is hard for me. It's hard to keep the flow of the story in my head.

Yep. For me as well. I've had a number of pretty big Real Life interruptions to this current project, and it's really, really hard to get back inside the story. It's hard to *care*. Like you, I'm floundering and fussing and finding Really Good Reasons to do almost anything else. Guilt is my main motivator these days.

I do think I know the right point of entry, and you have mentioned it. It's the characters. I have a fair backstory on most of them. It's really more a matter of getting close to them again. The events, the plot, that's pretty much done. I've either written it or know in detail what needs writing. It's the delivery that is the challenge. It's not even the dialog, for I have fair confidence I can write that as needed, but rather it's re-igniting the feelings of the moment inside myself, which means putting myself into the characters' heads in those moments.

That takes time, or at least it does for me. As in uninterrupted time where I think and doodle and write a bit and visualize and empathize. An interruption in that process is more than a road bump, more than just hitting Pause. It's a complete reset. More than a cessation, it's the destruction of that moment, and I'll probably never recover it precisely but will have to start at zero (for that scene) and work to produce something roughly similar. If this happens often enough, or for long enough, then not just that scene is affected but the whole damn story.

All I know how to do is to start at that zero again and hope that I don't have another heart attack, my wife doesn't have another stroke, my dog doesn't die (he's old), the retina surgery doesn't blind me, and so on. That's not even counting extended trips to see children and grandchildren or to travel abroad. After starting again at that zero mark for the eighteenth time, a fellow gets a bit discouraged from time to time.

I sympathize, Incanus.

 

[Incanus]

It was really tough, but I did get going again.

I had to force myself to engage with the material, and it wasn't easy. It didn't help that the first page of the chapter to be worked on next didn't have even two words in a row that I could use. The POV was wrong. I finally found a way to open the chapter, and things started falling back into place after that.

Trying to come up with a plan for where to include backstory had me looking at a lot of different material, some of which I hadn't thought about in a while. The process was like having to re-tool the machinery in my brain so that it could function for this project again.

I'm back on the horse. That will do for now...

 

[pmmg]

I dont like the word 'force' but if you are making progress and your dream is alive, than press on ink stained soldier.

 

[Mad Swede]

I dont like the word 'force' but if you are making progress and your dream is alive, than press on ink stained soldier.

No-one likes the word 'force' but forcing yourself to write even when not in the mood is something you have to learn, especially if/when you get a publishing contract. Then there are deadlines to meet, and missing them can cost you the contract.

 

[Gurkhal]

I was about to suggest a scene where one or several of the main characters are attacked by an unknown party. I've heard, but never tried, that kind of thing lends itself to getting a story/writing moving when you've stuck a wall.

 

[Incanus]

I was about to suggest a scene where one or several of the main characters are attacked by an unknown party. I've heard, but never tried, that kind of thing lends itself to getting a story/writing moving when you've stuck a wall.

I've heard this before as well. I'd be willing to try it out, but it won't work very well for my project. For one thing, the plot is basically done, and I am revising now. I wasn't stuck on a plot point. I found I just couldn't bounce right back to this project after taking a while to work on a short.

It wasn't easy, but I'm (more or less) back on track again now. I have revised a whole chapter since getting back to work on it (!)