Every story has a language of its own and exists in a world where no other story can. So switching gears from one project to another requires a bit of reprogramming of the voice inside my head.
Simple enough.
I just switch the channel.
The difficult part is trying to find that channel you had on several stories ago. When you try to tune in, you may find nothing but static.
Over the past two weeks or so, I've been reworking a manuscript I'd written over a year ago. I knew it needed some restructuring both in story and character for some months now but had been occupied with another book. Finally having some time, I was excited to work on it again because it's honestly been a labor of love. It's one of those books I've always wanted to write projects. It doesn't hurt that I also believe it's quite good and that the changes I've planned are only going to make it better. My one worry was that I wouldn't be able to write in the voice or style to match what was already written.
I think this is one of the hardest things when it comes to revisions. Luckily, I have some practice in this with series writing. The books in a series are sometimes written several months apart. I've also learned to never fully let a story out of my head until it's bound between a cover or I've declared it dead. Now I simply let the characters take a long nap, letting them sleep peacefully until I rush into their hiding place in an arm-waving panic, shouting for their help.
I'm happy to report, I was able to step right into the narrative without missing a beat. If anything, I've read more books in the genre over the past year and know more how to capture what I want than I did before. I must say, I'm enjoying my journey back into this world. I missed these guys.
And don't you find that even though you leave them alone, they carry on developing and living ike one of those virtual worlds.
ReplyDeleteVery true. They get up to all sorts of things when you leave them on their own :)
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