Having trouble getting back into my story...

[JustJess]

everynight. I have to wait until all 5 of the kiddos are asleep (the 4mo being the most unpredictable) then I sit and just stare at my WIP, before long it's midnight and I've only been productively writing for an hour or so. I know where I want to go with the story but have a hard time getting started.

So I was curious-when you sit down to work on you WIP how do you get into the zone and back into your story? Do you read the last page or so? Do you do a writing exercise first? Do you deliberately stop mid-scene so you'll have somewhere to pick up or do you find that counterproductive (in that you lose momentum). Do you find rituals helpful? I know everyone is different but I'm open to suggestions.

TIA

[WriteKnight]

All of your suggestions are good, and I know people who use them all to varying degrees of success. For me (as a screenwriter) I always stop before I'm done... leaving me somewhere to go when I sit down again. Then I go back, and re-read a bit, and start in.

I think you might just need to give yourself some affirmation - pat yourself on the back for every 'second' of productive writing. Come to think of it, even the bad stuff helps in the end.

Celebrate every word on the page. It all adds up. Don't punish yourself.

[Constantine K]

I like to read the stuff I've written the day before. By the time I finish, I'm feeling the flow of the story again and am ready to continue on. It's hard for me to start without seeing where I just came from, even though it was only the night before.

[Mumut]

If I can't get right back into the story I find it's because I'm uncertain of some of the past writing. Like now, I've just found a really interesting fact about the town I'm writing about in 1351. It won't be hard to change the setting to incorporate this however I haven't been able to get into it. But what I've found is that I've been worried that I've taken too long to get into the action...at the start of chapter one! It's the sequel to the sequel to the book. Book two ends in a cliff hanger but I have to start book three so regular readers won't be bored by repeating past events but newbies can read the book on its own.

Anyway, I've tidied up the first two pages and now I'm happy to get on with the new writing. So I'd suggest you re-read the story to date and make sure you're happy with everything. It works for me so it might work for you.

And congratulate yourself that you can write at all with the other distractions you've got.

[Eldritch]

I like to read the stuff I've written the day before. By the time I finish, I'm feeling the flow of the story again and am ready to continue on. It's hard for me to start without seeing where I just came from, even though it was only the night before.

Yep. Same here.

[storygirl]

My schedule is chaotic. I don't have a "daily" goal of words or times to write, I have weekly goals because some days are more productive than others.

I leave myself little notes at the end of each writing session when I'm on a role but need to stop. Just stupid little things, but they help me when I get back to the screen next time (which could be in three hours or three days).

Example:
MC talks to Soandso, finds out about Mr. Mean's violent history
MC goes to Blanks house for dinner, makes blahblahblah connection
And so forth.

It works for me.

[ClaudiaGray]

I read a little of what I've done before. Also, I always create soundtracks for each project that I play while writing; I find that hearing that music eventually jump-starts me into the right frame of mind to write.

[Michael Parks]

Don't know how corny this is going to sound, but.... I let myself get emotionally involved in the characters. Their plight, is mine. Their concerns, are mine. Each one. What's happening becomes important, and because of that, when I get to return to them, I rejoin more easily. I get close in and involved again, and my writing is better for it. Since I'm close, I'm better positioned to judge the intensity of the conflict, the reality of the scene, etc: too much? too little? Just right?

I know, who needs more to be concerned about?

Maybe it's time to do a little re-org of your inner priorities and dedicate a bit more "me" to your writing... sort of elevate it's importance in your life (and let the family know). If you allocate all your "me" energies on life, kids, home, job, etc.. then writing gets what? The left-overs? Some days, that can be pretty meager portions.

When I finally made this slight allocation, part mental and part physical, my writing time occurred more consistently, and my writing time was more productive.

Some nights, though, I know to just let it lie. That's a personal call ya gotta make sometimes, to preserve your energy and your writing. I refuse to feel bad about it, either, when it happens.

[kzmiller]

I prep for writing by thinking about the work long before I sit down to write. Sometimes this seems like an impossibility, especially with very young kids, but hey, you have time to sit on the toilet (presumably) so maybe you have a few nanoseconds here or there where you can think about the story? Failing that, maybe you can be a character for ten minutes here and twenty minutes there.

Which is entertaining, btw. I've gone shopping as various characters. It's fun to be a gay guy (I'm a bi woman) stressing over Machiavellian plots while picking out oranges in the produce section. Just don't drive unless your character is a driver/pilot and obeys traffic laws, okay? We have more than enough Grand Theft Auto characters and characters who apparently don't know what an automobile is, much less how to drive one. :D

[JustJess]

Thanks for all of the suggestions! When I started this story I was burning a scented candle, and since scents are such a great memory trigger I relit that candle last night; low and behold, the smell alone got me back into my zone :)

Today I'm going to create a playlist (I've been listening to Bram Stoker's Dracula soundtrack-which can be a bit too dramatic/intense for the everyday stuff ) I'll allow myself to read the last two pages (no further or I'll start revising) and I'll continue to jot little notes about tomorrow's writing at the end of the page.

[DeleyanLee]

I prep for writing by thinking about the work long before I sit down to write. Sometimes this seems like an impossibility, especially with very young kids, but hey, you have time to sit on the toilet (presumably) so maybe you have a few nanoseconds here or there where you can think about the story? Failing that, maybe you can be a character for ten minutes here and twenty minutes there.

Which is entertaining, btw. I've gone shopping as various characters. It's fun to be a gay guy (I'm a bi woman) stressing over Machiavellian plots while picking out oranges in the produce section. Just don't drive unless your character is a driver/pilot and obeys traffic laws, okay? We have more than enough Grand Theft Auto characters and characters who apparently don't know what an automobile is, much less how to drive one. :D

This is what I do too, even when I was the single mom of two very energetic youngster. Of course, I would often sit and talk about my characters and my stories to the kids (especially when they were too young to offer commentary) and made them a part of my "writing process". This included reading them scenes/chapters as bedtime stories. It made them much more willing to give me a bit of time to sit and write because they were a part of the process.

And, to boot, my daughter became one helluva continuity editor before the age of 7 and saved me from many embarrassing oopses along the way.

But letting my mind go whenever it had the opportunity is still the best way for me to be in the mood when I go to put words down on the page.

[David I]

I print out the previous session's work and walk around the house reading it aloud to myself--well, sort of muttering it, really--and polishing for cadence. This invariably hypnotizes me back into The Zone.

This method has disadvantages, though. The people you live with will think you're weird. And walking around while reading tends to make you crash into things. Glass-topped coffee tables are especially dangerous.

[icerose]

I write until I'm done. When I don't have a clear idea of where I need to go next or I get stuck, I try to switch gears. Grab a piece of paper and a pencil, talk about the story, look like a crazy woman like David suggests, those types of things. Usually for me though, it's all about changing the pace of things to get the writing juices flowing again.

[Melanie Nilles]

One thing with kids is that you can find yourself overwhelmed by all the external stimuli--noise, constant touching, etc.--to the point of overstimulation where your brain is ready to puke. I need to give my brain a chance to settle down. Meditation is a great way to shed this stress. Give yourself quiet time after the kids are in bed, maybe put on some quiet music, turn down the lights (but not enough to put you to sleep), and focus on one thought. I like to call it decompressing, because you've built up all the stress from all the stimuli around you, as well as from inside (hunger, internal thoughts, etc.), and you let it all go like a balloon loosing its air. Once that balloon is empty, you can put anything in it again.

What it'll do is help you refocus. Once you have that, getting back into the flow of the story comes much quicker. You've cleaned out the attic and have lots of room to move around again (if you prefer that analogy).

I hope that makes sense.

[stormie]

I don't reread the entire story, esp. if I'm too many words into it. Just the last five pages or so. If I still can't pick up where I left off, I write another scene that I may or may not use later.

One other trick: If you know you're going to have to leave your writing to tend to other things, jot a few notes or type them into where you left off, about where you think the storyline is going, or what you need to work on when you get back to it.

[Dana-Lynn]

That candle thing is a good idea! I'll have to try that sometime.

I find that if I go back and re-read 2 to 5 pages, it helps me get right back into the groove of the story.

:)

[Wolvel]

If I am having trouble, I usually back up two or three chapters and read what I have written to get my mind back on track.

[Pike]

That candle thing is a good idea! I'll have to try that sometime.

I find that if I go back and re-read 2 to 5 pages, it helps me get right back into the groove of the story.

:)

Here, here! Love the candle idea. And lots of authors go back over what they wrote to get into the groove.

I'm feeling your sitch, Jess. I've got four kids of my own so chaos is a central theme here. I get most of my work done in the mornings before work and during the weekends when my wife is working and I'm home watching the kids. Bits and pieces, whatever it takes to get the writing done.

Pike

[JeanneTGC]

If it was good enough for Hemingway, it's good enough for me -- I do my best to stop at a "cliffhanger", for me as a writer, at least. So I'm mid-scene or at a chapter break where the last line leads right into something I MUST write for the first line of the next chapter.

I also give myself permission for the first words I write to not be stellar or even good. I edit as I go along -- both taking out, adding in, and fixing -- so it's no issue to do this. If what I wrote when I first started isn't perfect, well, no worries. In anywhere from 5 minutes to 2 hours, I'll be re-reading and making tweaks, so I'll fix it then.

I find, on average, my "forced start" words are no better or worse than my "great inspiration" words. As in, I'll edit each with the same eye and they'll need roughly the same percentage of editing. So I look at it as a no-lose situation.

I also use music and I put the particular band or playlist for the WIP on before I'm "ready" to write, so the music can get working on me before I'm officially ready.