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Getting Back Together With Your Novel

Some tips and advice for reconnecting with your novel when you've been away for a while, from someone who’s taken a very long break from their current WIP at the time of writing this.


As I work my way back to my current WIP (project title Biting Reviews) after a few months away as I moved states and got readjusted to a new normal, I found myself torn between wondering if I should go back to the project or let it join the rest of my project graveyard and start something new.


Now, while this is a very common thought, it was one I personally wasn’t feeling at all. I didn’t want to give up on yet another project and certainly not because I was feeling disconnected from the story and the characters. So I was real with myself. Like, duh I feel disconnected, I haven’t touched the project since May and it’s currently August (when I came back to the project).


Since I refused to give up on yet another story idea, I opted instead to find ways of reconnecting with my project and getting back into the headspace of my FMC and her story. This involved a lot of reading and re-reading of the current version of my draft and prior versions I'd written, and a few other things I thought I'd share with you in case you are also trying to reconnect with an abandoned project.


Take advantage of the perspective

Time away from your story brings perspective.

While this is mostly advice that's given before entering into a new round of editing, it also works during the drafting process.


Sometimes that perspective makes us want to scrap everything and start over. And maybe you have to do that. But before doing so, take advantage of that perspective to gauge the current standing of your novel as it really is against where this current version of the draft needs to go.


This can help you to approach it with intention rather than diving in blindly or based on what you remember. The creative mind isn’t always reliable.


When we’ve been away from our projects for a while, we tend to remember how we feel about where the manuscript is, and not exactly what was written. With the perspective gained from the time away from your project, comment on the things you enjoy while you catch up with your work and summarize or outline what you’ve actually written within each chapter.


Whether you’re a plotter, pantser, or somewhere in between, having an outline that matches what has actually made it into your writing will help you create a list of things to focus on when you get back into the active part of writing your novel again.


While you can update the current outline you have, I recommend starting fresh so that you can have your initial outline as a guide through the draft, and build a more accurate outline as you read through your draft and continue writing. Your future self will thank you when you head into developmental edits.


Create a new mood board

fourteen aesthetic photos representing the vibe of my WIP
updated mood board for my WIP

Visual inspiration is a great way to flex another part of your creativity while keeping you connected to your story.


Give yourself refreshed inspiration by creating a new aesthetic mood board that inspires you and reconnects you with the vibe of the story. While creating this new inspired board, use the time to think more deeply about your novel in terms of tone, themes, tropes, and the overall message within your story.


(I know we all turn to Pinterest for this but please remember that posts on Pinterest are mostly from real people and deserve to be credited for their images. Pinterest is NOT a free stock photo site & you can not legally use those works to promote your own without permission from the OG creator.)


If mood boards aren't your thing or just isn't enough aesthetic motivation, you can also create mock covers, character and story aesthetic boards, collages of inspirational images and quotes, literally whatever you find motivating and inspiring and keeps you tethered to your story.


Create sound association

Creating a playlist for your book can help you in a lot of ways besides being a link to add to your book matter for readers. Sound association via a curated playlist for your novel can have a lot of benefits for you throughout the creative process.


  • a way to stay connected to the story when you’re not writing

  • can help immerse you in the world you’re crafting and inspire new ideas

  • great for setting the vibe when you're actually writing


My favorite thing about having a playlist is the way it keeps me connected to the world I'm building at the heart of my story even when I'm very far from my computer and even more so when I can't work on my story for a few days for one reason or another.


My curated playlist also helps me remember scene ideas and helps me come up with new ones. Even more so, it forces me to think deeper about my characters and the story as a whole.


Some things to think about when putting together your playlist are:

  • Songs that fit the vibe of the book

  • What would your character listen to?

  • Pick a song that would fit in the background for the introduction of each main character

  • What song fits your character at the start of the book and what song would fit them best by the end?

  • Songs that you imagine playing during those most important moments


Ease back into a routine

Though it might be tempting to dive straight into writing every day after being away from your project for so long, or even setting lofty goals and planning 10k writing days, this is about eliminating the time gaps away from your novel. Or at the very least, cutting down the amount of time spent away.


Sometimes going full speed ahead is what gets us stuck in the first place. When setting yourself up for this new routine, make sure to set goals that truly align with your current capacity and current season of life. Just because you could spend five days a week writing last quarter, doesn't mean you have the same amount of free time this quarter (or you do, and then good for you) and those five days of writing can quickly go from feeling fun and free to feeling like pressure and obligation.


Set goals and routines that work for you and make you feel like you can produce your best whenever you sit down to get the work done. Think of your writing routine as setting a date with your novel and characters and only plan for the dates you can show up to, not just the ones that sound fun and ideal.


Regardless of how you choose to reset your writing routine, easing into it with at least one to two days a week, or a few hours here and there within the week, dedicated solely to your novel can help make a difference and help you maintain a consistent connection with your novel.


Think of your writing routine as setting a date with your novel and characters and only plan for the dates you can show up to, not just the ones that sound fun and ideal.


Address the creative elephant in the room

If the on-and-off relationship with your novels is a habit you’d like to break, take some time to think deeply about what caused you to step away from the project. What is the true reason you felt the need to set your novel down?


While it's normal for life events to get in the way of creativity, a lot of the time our reasons for stepping away from a project in progress have to do with a creative wall we hit, or sometimes, don't want to address. That's when the proverbial creative wall turns into the proverbial creative elephant in the room and it needs dealing with.


Yes, this is the part where I tell you to grab a journal, or a trusted friend who can know every detail of your story before it's done, and ask yourself, what got you stuck? What stopped you from writing? Was it really life getting in the way or was it easier to allow life to get in the way? Were you struggling with what came next in the story or what questions needed answers? Is it a fear of failure, or fear of success? Did the critic in your head get too loud and down our your creativity?


If you know why you're coming up against some internal resistance about showing up to the page to get your novel written, you'll have some tools to work with when faced with it again.


Now, I'm not saying figuring out why you took a break from this project will help you never take another break from a project again, but it will help you to navigate each circumstance differently, and hopefully, with more grace for yourself as you work through it.


Your story is worth telling. Your story has an audience. You just have to finish it.

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©2024 by S. M. Ryan | Armed With Ink Indie Publishing and Editorial

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