Thursday, March 24, 2011

Question from Blog Reader

Hello, Inkpotters!

Here's a question for you from the Ask the Inkpot mail bag.

"Can you make suggestions and/or offer exercises for help getting back into a story you are working on when it has been put aside for some time?"

Thanks, Molly

And, readers, if you have a question for the Inkpot Bloggers, please email it to asktheinkpot@gmail.com

Until next time,

Inkpot Administrator

1 comment:

  1. Molly,

    Thanks for asking!

    I've done this pretty often, in fact. And the first thing I do is--without rereading the dormant manuscript--write a very short (one or two pages) synopsis of the story as I recall it. It's been interesting to see what highlights appear in the new synopsis. What stands out after time away?

    Then I answer some questions (again, before rereading the MS)
    What's the story about?
    What does the main character want?
    What do I want for the main character?
    What single scene do I love the most in the dormant MS?

    Then I reread. It's always interesting to see how the manuscript varies from memory and my desire.

    Have fun!
    MarshaQ

    ReplyDelete