Forum: Author Hangout

After I posted my latest story last week I went to my "ideas" folder where I create files for possible new works. I have five manuscripts in progress, ranging from a very brief 500 word summary to one that is over 20K words but less than half of I what I envision for a completed book.

I find that once I step away from a file for any length of time it is very difficult to re-familiarize myself with the story and characters again to start writing.

I assume pretty much everyone in the Author Hangout has a similar "ideas" folder with partially completed manuscripts? How many? How do you reengage with a story once it becomes dormant?

How do you reengage with a story once it becomes dormant?

I have one in-progress manuscript that I put on hold when a new idea took preference. When I get back to it, I'll simply read what I wrote from the beginning and then continue writing. If that doesn't get me to keep writing, it probably wouldn't get a reader to keep reading so it wouldn't be worth continuing.

Most of my Works in Progress are mostly my Notes, Outline, and perhaps some particular scene(s) or dialog. Character notes, often quite extensive, and most of which won't appear in the story, but they provide a significant guide to motivations for the story. So, I have my eventual "destination" and some key "checkpoints" and extensive notes to guide me through the writing process.

Some of them I have started writing the story. I try to write 3 to 5 times a week, both fiction, and some non-fiction or other writing responsibilities. My biggest difficulty is getting internet access. I don't have any internet access for my computer at home. My car is not working, and the friend who had been working on it (only in his 30's) went blind in one eye and is having other health issues. Thankfully, a recent operation may have restored his vision (we will know in a couple weeks); however, I have no reliable transportation. So, I write, and self-edit, but I can't send chapters to my volunteer proofreader, nor can I upload. I can only access via my phone.

Recently I found some written notes of a story I thought I lost in a hard drive crash nearly 20 years ago. I have been entering those notes, and adding some content, with plans to write the story after I finish other projects. Reading the notes, the gist of the story came back to me (despite my multiple TBIs; I have a hard time remembering current matters; unless I write notes).

When I have "writers block" on a particular story, I write something else. If I just "can't" write new content, I edit. If I have been away from a project for a while, I read through what I have already written, and it almost always comes back to me.