Writing

[marykaykare]

Or more, accurately, not

Comments

[davidlevine]

I suggest a slight modification of that plan: give the existing text a thorough read-through, writing an outline as you go. You can fix any really egregious problems you notice, but the focus is on getting your head around the book (writing the outline will help) rather than revising. Because the end of the book often results in repercussions that will be felt throughout, I advise you to finish a complete first draft before making any structural changes.

[athenais]

Having an outline is useful when you're distracted because it serves as a guideline to what needs to happen organically in the story. I do not recommend a revision at this point, just because that is cat waxing. Write all the way through to the end. If you know what the end is, write that next. If you don't know what the end is, you should, and maybe an outline after rereading what you have will help you sort that out.

[akirlu]

What they said. That is, focus on getting the thing outlined, beginning to end, and not on revision per se. My worst sin as a writer is Xeno-esque refinement of the beginning, which saps my momentum for getting farther on into the story. The outline is good because once you have it, it lets you hop around the structure so that if you're stuck on one scene, you can do a different one that's less troubling.

[jimhenley]

Shitty first drafts are your friend. In my case, they're my only friend! But you get the idea.

In my limited experience I'd be leery of rereading, though more accomplished folks than I seem to think it's safe enough. But if you want to write the book, you need to start producing new material on a daily basis ASAP. 500 words today; a sentence tomorrow; a bunch of unmotivated crap; anything. Bodies in motion tend to stay in motion and bodies at rest tend to stay at rest etc.

Maybe just reread the last chapter you wrote and immediately pick up from there?