Thread: advice from seasoned story writers please.

I was working on something about a year ago but I put it down and got distracted. I really like the overall theame, family and friends that I have bounced the idea off of all think it sounds interesting, and I have new ideas for events and plot twist all the time. The problem is I am having trouble getting back to knowing my characters voice. I am determined not to read too much of what I have written in the past, because it is a little disoriented and I get distracted and confussed. This is the first story I have attempted to write, I was always a poet. So I am kindof bumbling my way through it. I have a basic plot line in my head, but I don't have anything down on paper.

Basicly, I need some help focusing and figuring out how to pull it all together. I have about 30,000 words written amd I would like to finish this, even just for myself. So what do I need to do to get focused move forward with the story and the editing?

Also, what have people done about editing in the past? I find myself editing as I go and the story unfolds to me, but then I end up with lost of inconsistences in my story. If I don't edit as I go though, I end up with disconnects from where I was and where I went. I am very confussed.

Maybe you should put some things down on paper. Or in computer files.
I have a hard time really getting going until I know how it ends, myself.
I set up files in a directory for the novel, and some sub-directories for sections. I find that if there is some structure that, even very artificial, it helps. Sweet Spot takes place over Carnival Week, and is organized day by day, with a lunch hour each day. Really helped when I did that.

I would say, read the damned thing. Try to recover the voice. Organize as you move through. Maybe

Editing is a bitch, something you have to live with. Try to keep it clean as you go, but don't really worry about it until you've got a draft together.

Now wait right here until the next stranger comes along with totally contradictory advice.

Good luck

All good advice.
This sounds like a form of writer's block. I've got around it in the past by reading it all again. Sometimes by realising I've written myself into a deadend where nothing is naturally blooming in my imagination, and so I've kick-started it by changing tack. Each to his own, though. I've tried the computer files. I've also had to do what I think Lin was suggesting, in a way, and that's write out many section points on about 15 or 20 cards. Then I've spent time working things around on a table because it was so complex. It really helped with continuity problems.

On the editing front, I write extremely slowly and don't seem to naturally mispell. When I do it's lack of knowledge rather than lazy eyes, clumsy fingers or carelessness (don't judge me on forum posts though). So I leave it to the end and move on. This seems to be the general consensus when this subject has come up before.

Well, I'm not sure I'm a "seasoned writer," but I am a writer, so I'll take a crack at answering.

All advice above is swell.

It seems like you're having an issue rediscovering your character, not your story. Re-reading what you've written will definitely help, as you'll see how your character has responded to things in the past. Additionally, you might try such exercises as writing a journal entry in your character's voice--you may not get it right at first, but after a while you should be able to find it. Or, you could just not worry about it. If you keep writing your novel, you'll eventually rediscover the correct voice, and any issues that arise in the meantime can be fixed during the editing/revision process. Nothing is permanent.

I didn't really find my MC's voice until half my manuscript was written. I since had to go back and fix any glaring mistakes, mostly in dialogue. Took a few days, but it worked out nicely.

Don't become disheartened, that's the most important point.

It sounds like the piece overall was disconnected.

Things to try:

1. Figure where you're going out on paper/processor
2. Read it. It'll help you spot problems and regain voice
3. Edit as you go for transitions, inconsistences and plot holes
4. If you can't recover the voice or think it would be too much work to edit, start over with new characters
5. Write