There are many reasons you may have taken a break from your future novel: You’re waiting to hear back from prospective agents. You’re transitioning after a major life event. You were simply too in the weeds and needed to take a step back. But once you step away, it can be hard to figure out how to start writing your book . . . again.
3 Tips to Return to Your Book
Depending on how long a break you took, returning to your manuscript can seem overwhelming. Here are three tips for how to start writing again, get past those initial barriers, and get back into a groove:
1. Reread What You Wrote
You probably know your story inside out. After all, you spent hour upon hour writing and editing the darn thing! Still, the first step toward making a serious return to your work after an extended break is rereading what you already wrote.
Whether it’s been six months or six years, your perspective has changed. Things have happened to you, you’ve grown. Fresh eyes will help you see more clearly whether your words are doing what you wanted them to do and, if not, what you need to work on. In other words, rereading will give you an idea about where to start (or restart).
2. Spend Some Time With Your Characters
Fiction writers are often told to take steps to understand their characters before diving into writing. Terry McMillan, for example, fills out job applications for her characters. Another idea is to fill out dating profiles for them.
But this technique doesn’t only have to occur at the beginning of your novel-writing journey. Re-familiarizing yourself with your characters in the middle of the process can actually be useful in figuring out the direction the story should go.
Take some time to remember the core of each of your main characters. What is her favorite song? Biggest pet peeve? What is his favorite thing about himself? What is the one thing she always felt was missing from her life? Get deep. Remember why your characters do what they do.
By reorienting yourself with your characters’ core motivations, you will be able to review your manuscript more critically. You will be better equipped to determine whether their actions make sense or if something needs to be changed. Also, while engaging in this process, you may just find your characters giving you the inspiration you need to dive back in.
3. Begin a Daily Routine (and Remember Other Advice That Worked the First Time)
When you first sat down to write a manuscript, you were probably told to write every day. It’s the advice I’ve heard (and maybe given) the most frequently—because it works! I made the most progress on my novel when I committed to working on it for at least an hour every day. Unsurprisingly, the tactic that worked the first time also worked really well for me when it was time to get focused again.
You probably read a book, browsed writing blogs, or spoke to fellow writers to help you finish the first 100 pages or maybe even a full draft. Think about which advice worked for you then and try applying it again now. What worked in the past is probably your best bet.
Pick Up Those Old Projects
It can be tough to return to a project after you've taken a break from it for a while. Take some time to get your mind back in the space of that story, re-familiarizing yourself with the ideas and characters you've already developed.
Sure, it's not easy to figure out how to start writing again. But your stories are worth the work. And soon enough, you'll be back in the groove—and finishing your book.
How do you get back into a writing groove? Let us know in the comments.
PRACTICE
Writing fiction? Take fifteen minutes to write a dating profile or answer a job application for your character.
Or, write a summary of a writing project that’s currently on the back burner, but that you fully intend to return to.
When you're done, share in the comments below! Be sure to leave feedback for your fellow writers—you just might spark a fantastic new idea to get us writing again.
I have two on the backburner. And each of them is stopped because I have a plot problem, a hole in the middle. I don’t know how to continue/ how to achieve a certain thing. I know how it would end, it is 80-90 pages underway… but I am stuck somewhere.
One, titled “Other turmoils of life”, is a sequel of a novel I have published, “Lives in turmoil”. It is western, but not exactly the classical western with bandits and saloon girls. More like the struggles of the newly settled village, the bad leaders of the nearby town starting to harrass them, and their friendship with the Cherokee tribe.
The other is a pirate adventure, called “The price of freedom”, and there are several adventures which happen to the pirates of a certain crew and their loved ones. But there should be something to tie them together… something I can’t grasp.
I have finished 2 romance novels and both need a much deeper POV. and deep revisions. Thanks so much for the advice!
Two novels deserted. was scared but feeling much better now. will get back to them
This article came at a time when I needed to read this kind of dynamic in my life. I’m concentrating on kids, life. And, I feel terrible for not writing every day. I am working on a book of poetry, and a book of life lessons, values for my kids. I want to market my books better, and make them better for others to buy them.
Hahaha, I should have done this yesterday. It was only 3 days! I spent the morning writing a nice detailed scene about a city and event, the problem I already passed that point in my book. hahaha. I like this version better so I will merge the two scenes later on, so all was not for naught.
XENON is a boy who has mysterious powers due to a virus which was bombed to stop. The blast instead of killing him gave him his powers. The blast made him forget everything and so xenon uncle adopted him (as his parents died in the blast)…when he grows fifteen he starts wondering why he has such powers and overhears his uncle and aunt talking about his past….he runs away and gets kidnapped by the person his uncle most fear…
This is just the summary of how much I have written and now I’m stuck.any ideas what should I do next?
you need to do an outline. What do you want xenon to do with his powers ultimately. What are his powers. Why would his uncle even know about this feared person if xenon was created by a bomb blast? This is a scifi which I have yet to venture into, but it seems to me you need to define your protagonist and your antagonist – they figure out what the big prize is, good vs evil – man over machine – or is it an awakening story – will it be a series or stand alone. Is it on earth? Those are some of the questions that stand out to me.
As an avid reader of Sci-fi I want to know how did this happen, where was he when the bomb was detonated, and theories about how he got super powers when no one else did, which begs the question, did he come in contact with something like a mysterious substance? Perhaps he was in a museum next to a sacred object of unknown origins or next to a crater where a meteor fell years ago or some such thing like that, possibly the virus was brought on by that meteor, and his uncle knew that, which is why he fears that the kidnapper, a rival scientist maybe, has figured it out. I would weave the questions and answers into the plot as he goes along on this journey of trying to escape his kidnapper.
He was near a unknown sample (which had come down a meteor which had struck the earth)which burst and expanded……he and his parents were the only ones left in the nasa laboratory because all the others had evacuated and xenon father insisted to try and stop it… anyhow I was actually coming to think that this story is going to be lame…but you actually lifted my spirits
Good to know I helped, keep on writing it’s worth it when you see the finished project!
Yes but then you keep getting better and u can keep editing forever??
I have to leave myself another post it. hahaha
I have had writers block for the pass 3 months. This post came at just the right time. I was about to delete everything I wrote and start over. Thank goodness I didn’t.
I’m writing the third novel in my Molly Blue series, which has taken my mind to shut down mode for three months…and all I can say about that is TIME TRAVEL So confusing!
Great tips! I am trying to get back into my writing and it’s hard. I’ve got 75k words and I’m not sure WHY I stopped!
I have whole playlists for my characters and novels. I use spotify and use many different types of music. When I come back from a long break, I play my characters playlists. The playlists also keep me thinking about a novel project.
Interesting article. I think that to start writing, you just need to start. To read some other book, you could try these out ( https://essayvikings.com/blog/best-christmas-gifts-ideas-for-college-students ) as an example for your own. Communicating with other writers is also very helpful. You just need to do something and try.
Imagine you’re a baseball player playing on the “Writing a Book” baseball team. You’ve just came off from being in the minors recovering due to an injury you had received. Being away that long as each of three balls gets thrown at you, you swing and miss. The thing no one’s bad at you for striking out because the reality is you’re an author and of those strikes is you just striking another item off your list of ” How to Start Writing Your Book Again After a Long Break.”
GREAT ARTICLE and ADVICE !!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Thank you! Novel # 2 is turning out to be almost as hard as my debut novel! Who knew?!