Story Magic

91 - Getting back to your story after a break

• Golden May

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Today, Emily & Rachel talk about returning to your story after a break.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

  • resetting your mindset
  • reacquainting yourself with your work in progress
  • reconnecting with your why
  • relying on your community

Ready to make readers so in love with your characters they can’t stop biting their nails in anticipation?  Grab The Magic of Character Arcs free email course: https://www.goldenmayediting.com/arcsmagic

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Emily:

Hey, writers. Welcome back to Story Magic, the podcast that will help you write a book you're damn proud of.

Rachel:

I'm Rachel.

Emily:

And I'm Emily.

Rachel:

And today we are talking about getting back into your writing, your story, after a break. A long break. A break.

Emily:

Getting back into it, whether intentional or not.

Rachel:

Or not.

Emily:

Yes, We've all been there.

Rachel:

So we had this question come up in our tenacious writing program, and we had some incredible discussion around it. But it felt really timely after both of us had come off of a lot of sickness around the holidays. And I did take about a month off of writing. And this happens. I mean, not just timely for me, but, like, I feel like this happens all the time to everybody. Something comes up, you stop writing, you come back to it later. How do you find your flow?

Emily:

I think oftentimes people can feel so daunted by, like, there's this. I often will hear people be like, oh, no. Every day. Every additional day that goes by that I haven't touched my story, I feel further away from it, and I'm gonna have to. Right. It's this, like, space, spiraling thought process of, like, I'm never gonna get back into it. It's gonna be so hard. And it doesn't have to be necessarily.

Rachel:

It doesn't have to be.

Emily:

It really.

Rachel:

Well, I have been there so many times, and I also hear that, and I'm like, stop being so dramatic.

Emily:

It's fine.

Rachel:

I'm like, I'm saying that. To me, I've been there. It's hard. It's really overwhelming, especially if you're. I feel like later in the process. Not always, but to me, I always feel like if I've. If I'm, like, past the midpoint Now, I have 70% of a story. I have to remember. I can't remember what I did last week. How am I supposed to remember what I've written for 80,000 words?

Emily:

Yeah.

Rachel:

So it's daunting. It is. It also doesn't have to be dramatic. Yeah.

Emily:

I feel like those two things can. Can occur at the same time. Um, cool. Well, tell me, how did you.

Rachel:

Yeah.

Emily:

How did you jump back in? Because I feel like you took. My break was more. I had to pause one project to do another that I had to go back in. And so it was, like, slightly different, but you had, like, life was like, nope. No writing for Rachel.

Rachel:

Yeah.

Emily:

Yeah.

Rachel:

No, there were weeks, probably about two or three weeks solid weeks where I did not write at all. And there was a couple days here and there. Like, I Think at the beginning, when I was first sick, at the beginning of the. Of January, I didn't write then. I got a little bit better and I tried to get back into it and, like, then got sick again and then, like, didn't write again. So, yeah, I did take a pretty solid. I was out of it. I did feel this feeling of, what have I written? Where am I going? How do I start again? And I. To me, the first. I have some points here to talk about, and they're not necessarily in a specific order because I think it's all a cycle, it's all part of it, but we've just touched on it of, like, you can't be afraid to just get in it, you know? So I feel like a version of me a couple years ago would have felt a lot of inner critic voices come up, a lot of shame, a lot of perfectionism popping up to tell me a lot of untrue things about how to get back into it, let alone, like, what was already going on. But, like, the one that used to come up for me was like, I have to know everything before I could even start writing new words. Yeah, it's like, no, you don't. No, it's fine. Like, don't be afraid to get your hands dirty and, like, jump in and fool around. You know, take a very. For me, like, changing from a really rigid and scared mindset into a really playful and explorative mindset makes a huge difference. Even just, like, to settle some of those biological reactions when you sit down in front of your computer of, like, oh, no. Like, overwhelm, heart pumping, anxiety, pressure. So I think be playful to start with it.

Emily:

Yeah.

Rachel:

Have. This is supposed to be fun.

Emily:

I know you have points, but I'm gonna ask questions.

Rachel:

Go for it.

Emily:

So. So I'm curious, you know, you're like, I gotta dive back in. Like, what did that look like? How did you. And actually back up. I want you to answer that question. But first, I feel like where. Like where you're at with your story when you decide to take a break or are forced to take a break can also influence kind of how you're feeling when you go back into it. Am I correct in thinking that you were, like, stuck when you got stuck or stuck when you got. When you had.

Rachel:

Kind of. Kind of. But I was. Do you remember that email I sent out last week? Like, disagree and commit.

Emily:

Yeah, that's.

Rachel:

That's where I was. Where I hadn't just made choices in the story to write forward knowing that they Weren't.

Emily:

Right.

Rachel:

So I was in that zone of, like, I'm trying to just keep going, even though this doesn't feel very good. Like, even though I know that I'm probably going to change this direction. So I was stuck in the sense of, like, this is not exactly where I want to be. I know that. But I was trying not to be stuck in the sense of, like, stop writing. You don't know where you're going. You. Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.

Emily:

The reason I asked that is because I remember having a conversation with you once you started to write again, and you were like, well, I've had a lot of time to think about solutions to the problem that I had a month ago. Right. And I feel like sometimes, you know, that can be the blessing in disguise of a break. So I didn't know if I was reading into that or if that was actually. Actually what happened.

Rachel:

No, that. That was. That was what happened. I had felt I was going into Act 2 and I had, like, a pivot plan going into Act 2 that was just not working. And I wasn't liking the plan and the goals that my characters had, but I didn't want to just stay stops. I had written, like, Most of Act 2 thinking that they were doing this plan and, like, knowing that's not really the plan. So then when I was sick and did take a break, I was able to think of, like, no, I think I want them to try this plan instead. So when I came back to it, I had ideas for how to change that, and I. And I did end up changing it.

Emily:

Love that.

Rachel:

Yeah. So timing wise, I feel like they were overlapping, but I definitely didn't see stop.

Emily:

Did stop. Yeah. Stuck. Stuck can imply like, you were. You were stopped. That. That wasn't. I meant, like, yeah, you were having issues with the story that the break sort of silver lining helped.

Rachel:

Oh, it certainly did.

Emily:

Which is funny because I had the opposite experience with my quote unquote break. But we could talk about that in a second. How did you die? Like you said, don't be afraid to dive back in. So, like, what did that look like for you?

Rachel:

The first. One of the first things that I did was just reread what I had already written, and I. I took a lot of notes, but I made no changes. I think that's the important part of my advice here is, like, when you're taking that break and you're getting that clarity, you're also coming back to it, seeing all of the ways that this is not maybe what you thought it was. Or it's not as good as you hoped, or like, maybe this is a good time for you to revise because you haven't been writing. No, no, that was not the right time for me to do that. So I took. I really did take a bunch of notes on, like, okay, I think I want to do this X, Y, Z. But I did not make any changes when I was trying to re. Acclimate myself with the story. So I reread everything, and I took a really zero shame, zero judgment approach of like, where am I? That's all the question was, what have I written already? The question was not how do I fix this? Yeah, yeah. So I just reread it all. That was where I started. Yeah. And I think that that's a pretty solid. I mean, that's where I would advise most people to start. If you haven't been in your writing, reread it. But don't reread it thinking that, like, number one, it's going to be perfect, and number two, that this is the right time to change things, because it's not.

Emily:

Yeah, it is not so, so funny. I did not do that. I did not reread. Um, and I actually have a client who. It's not even a recommend recommendation for me. I think it's like, her. She's like, I'm not going to reread things.

Rachel:

Yeah.

Emily:

Like, she doesn't reread stuff because of that tendency. Right. The tendency to revise, the tendency to see all the holes and the tendency to spiral. Like, if you have one of those, like, brain things.

Rachel:

Yeah.

Emily:

Sometimes it's. I find that, especially in, like, earlier drafts, it can be not helpful for me to, like, remind myself of, like, how much. How far I have to go.

Rachel:

Yeah. Well, then how do you remember what you've written?

Emily:

I just trust that, like, my gut knows. Like, and it's like, you guys should.

Rachel:

See the way that I'm looking at Emily right now. Like, what? No. Okay, so now walk me through this. Okay. I. For me, I could. I could really. I really did not remember what happened in a scene. So then if I were to sit down and start writing, you're. That's where you're at. You're think. You're like, eh, I'll pick it up. So.

Emily:

So we're both in first drafts, but you're further along than I am, and you're working with characters that you already know. So I think that that, like, right. The circumstance matters here, because for me. I'm sorry, context, back up I. I started a new project in January, and I got enough. I got, like, 30 sample pages. I sent them to my agent, and then I had to pivot back to. To my copy edit for up in Molten Lights. So that kind of consumed my life for several weeks in which I didn't touch the other project. Like, I was totally in another story. Like, deep, deep in another story. So then I came out of that story, and I was like, okay, how do I get back into this? And I was like. Like, through those three weeks, I'd had so many ideas of, like. Like, the story had kind of morphed in my brain of, like, who these people were, like, at a fundamental level. And I was like, if I reread that, I'm going to get real confused.

Rachel:

Okay.

Emily:

And so I was like, I'm just going to leave it. And I still haven't decided if I'm going to reread it or just pick up where I left off. Because it's funny, like, when I. When I. I didn't want to stop to do my copy edit because I was like, I've got momentum. I can write the next three scenes, you know? And then, like, as the three weeks going on, I was like, oh, wow, I don't know anything about this book.

Rachel:

Yeah.

Emily:

And part of that was probably being in copy edits for another book where I knew everything down to, like, the most minuscule things. But, like, it. Right. It was that opposite of, like, actually, the break showed me how little I know about this story. And so I. So for me, when I dove back in, I did a lot of plotting and planning, and now I'm writing backstory, and I have not even looked at those first 30 pages because I was like, those characters, they're not even the same characters as the characters I now have in my head. Like, they're not. And so for me. And that's. I know for my client, like, we've written, like, whole acts before where she's, like, written a whole act of something and given it to me, and I've given her feedback, and she's like, I'm still working on the next act. I'm not going to look at that because the story is morphing, and I'm like, I'm in it now. And so she, like, won't reread stuff until the end. And I think. So the reason that I say that is, like, you don't have to reread something if you actually feel like it would be more comfortable for your nervous system to just dive in where, you know, wherever you're curious, curiosity is because like, it's a really real thing. I think that, that rereading something can confuse your brain or give you anxiety that you don't need and like, you could avoid that if you just don't reread.

Rachel:

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I was definitely feeling like I'm 50,000 words into this draft. I have no idea what I had written.

Emily:

30 pages, like. Yeah, right.

Rachel:

And they're like, that is a lot different where I'm trying to pick up in the middle of the story.

Emily:

Yeah.

Rachel:

And you're kind of, you're taking what you have, but you're starting again, you know, like you're working from that into another version of the story. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah.

Emily:

Yeah.

Rachel:

But I think, I mean, I think that's totally valid that rereading can elicit a lot of it can bring up a lot of narratives inside your head. And our hope is that whatever you are doing, you're still having like zero shame about it.

Emily:

No shame. And like, don't get stuck in an unnecessary fixing cycle.

Rachel:

Yes.

Emily:

Because that's not helpful. We want to move forward.

Rachel:

Yeah, yeah. And I think there are multiple different ways to move forward. Like, new words are not always the right path. So like for, for me, new words were fine once I had finished rereading because this is my third book, my third book with these characters. I already kind of knew what I was doing, so that was fine. But I think if you're disconnected, some other activities for you to be doing are like brainstorming, world building, guided meditations or guided visualizations. Like just the, the purpose of this activity. Right. Is to ease you back into it. And that doesn't mean you have to go right back into new pages. So that's when I would say, yeah, follow your curiosity. Write about whatever you want. So yeah, I think free writing is a great way to get back into it. If you're not wanting to write brand new words like in your draft document or if you were in a pre drafting stage. You know, there's. The point is that you can sink yourself back into the story. And I think following your own intuition or what feels exciting. Like you said your curiosity, like that can be a lot of different ways. So in our community, some people had mentioned like writing prompts. I've never been good at writing prompts. Those don't work for me. But writing prompts could be really helpful to like sink you back into it or re. Acclimate yourself with the story. Just, I just Feel like going back to the get your hands dirty stuff? Ease into it with an activity that will get your brain turning around the story again. And not necessarily. I'm gonna draft a new scene right now. It doesn't. It doesn't have to be like that if that doesn't work for you.

Emily:

Yeah, yeah. I was like, in my brain, I was like, when I get back to this story, I'm gonna start writing right away. And then, like, I spent the whole first day plotting because all of a sudden I had all these story ideas that I'd come up with over the last couple of weeks. And I was like, how do they all fit together? Oh, my goodness. What does this mean for who my characters are? And I just kind of. I let myself do that for two days. I had. I was like, okay, I'm gonna write tomorrow. I think I even posted in Slack. I was like, guys, I'm gonna write tomorrow.

Rachel:

I'm gonna get words down.

Emily:

And I did it. It took me, like, three days, but, like, I had fun. And I was following that curiosity to kind of get myself acclimated with this new story idea and kind of how it had evolved since I last picked it up.

Rachel:

Yeah. Yeah. So I think free write, it's. It's, like, about, you know, if we come back to this example a lot, but I think your physical body has a lot of parallels to your writing body. And this is a time to, like, stretch, you know, this is a time to, like, you know, do a little walk around the neighborhood or stretch. Do some yo writing, yoga, you know, like, just move according to how. Like, what feels good to find your footing in the story again. I also think that talking about it is really helpful. So a really great memory jogger to me is like, if I talk to some writing friends and I'm just telling them about the story because I cannot guarantee it makes sense to them. But I can say that as I start to talk about it, I start to remember things, and then I start. I'll backtrack and be like, oh, and I forgot to tell you. And then this happened. And then all of a sudden, after, like, 10 minutes of word vomiting, I'm, like, back in it and excited about it because I just spent 10 minutes talking about it. Yeah, I think that can be really helpful.

Emily:

Something else you could do is, like, get a positivity read. So I forgot that I did this. I had sent my. My pages to a friend of mine who's not a writer, but she reads all my stuff. And I was like, new story. Idea. And I sent it to her, like, weeks before because it takes, you know, she's busy lady. And she happened to read them, like, the same day that I got back into it. And so she was, like, texting me, basically, positivity past stuff of like, I love this and I love this, and I. And it, like, totally just, like, whew. I was so excited to get back into it. Um, and so that was really helpful. Like, even if you're like, you know, 50,000 words into a project, you could send the last scene to somebody who's familiar with the story or even if they're not and just be like, hey, just give me a boost.

Rachel:

Yeah. I think people feel really weird about asking for praise, but that is stupid. Yeah. Yes. To me, that is the most motivating thing. Like, it does not matter if I am going to, like, I'm gonna send my stuff and be like, only praise me as if I am the best writer ever. And then, boom, I'll write 50,000 words. Like, I. I think people get in their head about this and think, like, oh, I don't. I don't want to be that person that searches out praise. No, no. Search out praise. Because it is extremely motivating, and it's a wonderful activity to do, like, to swap with other writers, to ask of your friends and family. It is totally okay when you're asking for feedback to be like, do not tell me anything critical. Just don't, gosh, only want the hype right now. And that. That's so great for me throughout the drafting process.

Emily:

Yeah, I think we can fear. We don't give faith to other people that, like, they'll find, like, real things to give us positive feedback on. So I think we fear that they'll lie to us. But, like, 99% of the time, that's not what people are going to do. They're going to tell you what they love about something, and it's probably going to be things you also love about it. And it's going to make you feel seen, and it's going to make you feel like they, you know, somebody else is witnessing what you're trying to do with something that, you know, isn't exactly where you want it to be yet. And so that could, you know, be super, super motivating.

Rachel:

Yeah, it's really fun writing. We have a whole episode of, like, writing. Is it fun? This is one of the fun parts, is when you ask for praise. That is a fun part of writing. Yes. And I just have, like, one more little idea I, I, again, these were not in any specific order because I think this one's really important. And sometimes is. Is well done at the beginning of reconnecting with your story is to reconnect with your why, like, why are you writing the story? Why does it matter to you? Why are you even coming back? You know, I. Sometimes we have these obligations where, like, I have to finish writing a story that I already started. Maybe, maybe. But also, why are you coming back? Because if it's not positive, is this really what you want to be doing right now? Maybe there's something that could better serve you elsewhere. But why did you want to write it in the first place? What originally got you excited? What do you think or hope this story will do for you or your reader? I think some of those why questions can ground you a lot. Those foundational questions can jog, like, tons of memories and then ultimately give you, like, those why questions will. Will serve to give you direction. So if you can refine that direction, I think, yeah, I think it'll ground you and give and get you more motivated. There was a reason you did it. You liked the idea.

Emily:

Cool. Yeah.

Rachel:

Why?

Emily:

Or it made you feel a certain way. Is it still making you feel that way? You know, or. Yeah, I think that can be. That could be a helpful question. And it doesn't have to be like a story point question of, like, why is the story important? It can be like a, you know, why. Why bother with this in your life? And you better have a good reason. Damn it. No.

Rachel:

A reason. Good is subjective.

Emily:

If you don't, then stop. No. Then stop.

Rachel:

No, but honestly, like, okay, hot take. If you don't have that reason and it feels like obligation coming back to it, start something new. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, there's a lot of different facets to that question, but we have. We have a whole episode on.

Emily:

Talk about a difference.

Rachel:

We do have a whole episode on when to shelve your story. What episode is that? 18. Yeah, when and why? To table a project. So maybe you, like, go revisit that episode.

Emily:

Yeah. If you're listening to this episode because you have been taking a break and you want to get back to your story, but it feels like pulling teeth. Go listen to that one, please. We love you.

Rachel:

Yes. And again, judgment free. There's no shame zone. Yeah. What else? Anything else on your mind about this?

Emily:

Guys, don't be so dramatic.

Rachel:

Don't make it dramatic.

Emily:

Be okay. It's just a story. So listen to our episode about how nothing matters yeah, I'm just kidding. But, but for real, like deep breaths. It's not, it's never ever as hard as our brain thinks it's going to be. So get your butt in the chair and play.

Rachel:

Yeah, actually that's. This is a good. That reminds me there. There's no timeline for how long this takes, but I do think you can get to a point where you feel that procrastination coming. And so a. A helpful activity or exercise that I have seen writers do, yourself included, is like, you have three days and then after those three days you're just gonna write. So like whatever that day is, whatever that frame is, like, give yourself one week. And after that one week, you know, get back into it. Cool. If you're like someone who's just gonna reread things forever and like worry and not be, you know, not. Not actually make a choice to step back in. Give yourself three days. Whatever you can. Can whatever you can remind. Yeah. Remind yourself.

Emily:

You hold you accountable.

Rachel:

Uh huh. And then do it again. Then start writing. But there's no. That's not required by any means. I. I still am of the mind of. This can take time, you know, so give yourself grace.

Emily:

Yeah. Yeah. I feel like if I had not posted in the tenacious writing slack, like I'm gonna write tomorrow, guys, like, and nobody was like, oh my God, you didn't write today like you said you were gonna. But it still helped me. Like I finally wrote words on Friday or whatever then. It felt good. It was not as scary as my brain kept saying it was gonna be.

Rachel:

Yeah. You were not on the run from a predator. You were just gonna write Tell my.

Emily:

Body that I know.

Rachel:

Yeah, okay, cool. Cool.

Emily:

If you want to build a successful, fulfilling and sustainable writing life that works for you, you've gotta get on our email list.

Rachel:

Sign up now to get our free email course, the Magic of Character Arcs. After seven days of email magic, you'll have the power to keep your readers flipping pages all through the night.

Emily:

Link in the show notes. We'll see you there.