Resurrecting a a dead story.

First the question, How do I regain interest in a story that I lost interest in? About four years ago I started writing a sci-fi (Star Wars) based story. I was able to tune out everything and just write and I ended up with a story around one hundred pages. It was only a generation one story and I had hoped to expand it and fill in plot holes and I had started that very thing when I had a few emotional things happen that I had to deal with along with a move cross country. Now I can't even read what I've written I can daydream about the story, I can talk with friends about it but when I sit down to write I draw a complete blank. I would love to get back into the story and start filling in odds and ends and fixing the plot problems but I can't figure out how to get back into it. Am I trying to hard? Has anyone else had this problem, being distracted from writing a story and then been unable to start writing that story again? BB Andrew

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Permalink Reply by Caspian on May 12, 2009 at 6:30pm: Read it and look at it with fresh eyes.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Dreamwalker on May 12, 2009 at 6:57pm: Your move and related new events changed your alignment with yourself. You might not ever get back into that particular story. If your heart is in writing, perhaps you should focus on creating another manuscript, a fresh new one, and keep that one on the back burner in case it comes back into clearer focus for you at a later date.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Malark Bryony on May 12, 2009 at 11:46pm: I have an Jossverse based story that's nagging at me to work on it. I know about where I want things, but there's a big plot point that's keeping me from going at it. When you daydream or talk about it, take notes. Maybe it's the plot problems holding you back. Do you think you should have a clear idea before you continue? For me, I think it's going to take me sitting my butt down in the chair and just writing. The honeymoon where everything just flows with the story is over with, now it's time for the marriage where everything is work.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Christin Keck on May 31, 2009 at 9:09pm: Sure...it's happened to me too. My solution? Scrap it. Start over. If the story is meant to happen, it will. A broken story is difficult to fix, and may not be fixable--if there are that many plot holes and odds and ends to shore up, then it probably needs to be redone from scratch anyway. If the basic idea is sound, start over and write what you want to this time---edit as you go, rather than waiting until you get it all down first. If it doesn't gel then, then you probably need to do something else entirely. Sometimes a scrap of an idea is all you ever get--and it can't BE fleshed out into a full-length piece. There's no shame or sorrow in that--it just is. Happens to the best of us!!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by SpiralingElements on July 8, 2009 at 6:40pm: If you are really into the story maybe you could start over telling it from a different point of view. It could also be that at this point in your life you have a whole new story to tell.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by libramoon on August 1, 2009 at 12:13am: Make friends with your characters, and listen raptly to their story.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Daughter of Nyx on August 1, 2009 at 1:18am: If you've had to deal with some emotional issues since you started writing, you will not be in the same 'place' so to speak as when you started the story. When going over what you've written, do so from where you're at now, even if it means a complete rewrite. The characters do speak to us and when they do, they will write their own story. As our characters are often an expression of our deeper selves, its good advice to let them be your guide.; ▶ Reply to This