Thread: Restarting the Novel

Originally Posted by actorkent

I am looking for some ideas about how to "Re-Load" the book into my head again and get that zest back that I had for it.

Read it. If reading it doesn't put the zest back, dump it and write something else.

Another thing you could do is copy it. That's how I get back into old stories. I print off a copy and then get some blank paper and a pen and start coping the text, word for word. After a few pages I start to get the "feel" back.

If you prefer to copy using a computer, that should work too.

Re finding people to work with: Last I checked there was a suburban version of the Chicago Reader. If you look in the classifieds under Instruction or Classes you might find some writers' groups in your area. That's how I found my first one when I was living in Chicago.

Coming back to after all that time might be a blessing in disguise. You will be able to read the work with a more detached attitude which is harder to do when you are in the middle of writing.

There will probably be times where you say to yourself "Ick, I wrote that?!?".

Michael

I say that about stuff I wrote yesterday. You don't need to be all that detached to know when you're writing crap.