Getting back into the zone

Okay, here’s a really practical little tip that helped me recently. It seems obvious, now I come to write it down. But I never thought to do it before.

Last week I wrote about having a break from your writing, and touched briefly on getting back into it.

It’s not as easy as it seems. First you have to break the resistance, which makes it seem absolutely urgent that you tidy the linen closet or tackle some project before the deadline looms too near.

I don’t have any real answers for that, except that you set aside the time, ring-fence it, don’t allow anything to intrude, and force yourself to start at the beginning. I’m a great believer in rewards. Offer yourself a treat if you manage to get right through it and write even a line or two. 

I don’t think you can throw yourself right into the next chapter when you’ve had a break. Besides the fact that you might have forgotten all their names, and may not remember the threads you have waving about in the air, you have to get back into the zone. Every book has a “state of mind”. Find that, and you’ll be back into the voice and world of your characters.

Your first day back is more about finding that space than about writing reams. But if you manage to write a paragraph, rejoice. You’ve found your way back in.

Okay, so here finally, is my tip. I used index cards to help me get back into my story.

I usually use cards when I’m at the editing stage. I’m a great believer in them. Assign a card to each chapter and list the scenes in each. Describe briefly what happens in every scene. If you find you can’t describe what happens, it forces you to consider whether it has a reason to be there at all.

Every scene has a dramatic imperative, or it should have. Summarising it makes you look critically at each one. Does it develop character? Does it advance the story? Perhaps it does both – or (horror of horrors) neither.

When I got back into my writing after a recent break, I used the cards less critically than I do when editing. But listing my scenes calmed my nerves. I could do something with my hands that gave a dispassionate edge to my reading. Perhaps it reminded me that, even if I found flaws, they could be dealt with in the editing stage.

It also reminded me of threads I’d left behind, characters I’d forgotten, sub-plots that needed to be brought to fruition.

It was an aid, and one I can continue to use as I write. When last did she meet this character? Or what was happening the last time she met those people? It means I don’t have to trawl back through past chapters when I’m trying to move forward.

Seems like common sense now.But perhaps those are the best ideas – the ones that seem obvious. 

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