Gathering it All Together
Traci Kenworth
It’s been a busy past couple weeks with the aftermath of recovering from surgery. Now, I’m ready to go back into my current wip and tackle writing the rest of the story. I took down my notes for this chapter and I’m almost finished with it. I did, however, have to backtrack some to figure out what I was doing before I left it and how I planned to continue it, plus pull both together. Right now, I’m sort of sending out feelers to evaluate where I’m at, and how successful I’ve been (or haven’t been) with the story.
The interest is still there, I’m still excited about writing it, I just have to get it all down. What are some of your tips for picking up where you left off after a break and keeping yourself moving forward despite the idea that things may need to change in regards to where you’re headed?
Traci Ashbe Dark Fantasy Author 
12 responses to “Getting it All Together”
I go back and reread what I’ve written so far on my WIP and reread my characterizations (usually the backstories and interviews). Usually I try not to stop in the middle of a draft, but it doesn’t always work out that way.
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Good tips, Stina!!
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Argh, just lost my entire comment! Okay, the shorter version this time, lol.
I am in the same boat, so I uploaded my book onto my reading device and read the whole thing at once. I didn’t stop to revise, just made notes. This meant I kept the reading continuity from start to finish.
Mine is final draft, so it was small stuff. But if I had a lot of big stuff, I’d do the same thing and pick one thing to revise–focusing on only the plot, or only the characters, etc. Whatever I felt was the biggest issue needing to be fixed first. :) Hope this helps!
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Thanks, Angela!! It does help!!
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I usually read at least a few chapters before where I left off the story, and if stuff needs to be fixed then I try to tell myself that I can always go back and change it later.
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That’s what I’m leaning toward, Golden Eagle. Trying to resist the temptation of revising as I reread. Thanks for stopping by!!
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I haven’t come up with that problem but have to get going on a big project that I”ve neglected for some time. Not sure what to do about it. I miss it.
I thought I would be marketing my new children’s book but the delays keep coming and I am not going to wait any longer. Just decided to heck with it. I’ll restart the project any way. Now for a major shift in thinking about my WIP. Not the children’s book but the main big book, my memoir. I think I”ll write about it in a post because this is turning out to be too long. Thanks for letting spout off about it. :)
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No problem, Clarbojahn!! Thanks for stopping by.
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Glad to hear things are going well and you’re back to writing! I find that sometimes, giving something a break is the best way to get back into it. Rereading after a break always gets me excited and sometimes helps see the obvious answer to a problem that was stumping me before. :)
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Thanks, Vanessa!! I sorta got things working again with the wip. So all signs say, “Go.”
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Me too. I reread what I already wrote and review some of my notes and outlines. Doesn’t take me long to get back in the swing of things.
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It’s so energizing when we get that greenlight from our muse too, isn’t it, Dan? You feel like nothing could stop you. I’m so thankful I can step away and return to a project even if it takes me a short while to.
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