I returned from a two-week holiday and looked at my notes for the next section of my novel. After much consideration, I realized I had no idea what I meant when I wrote those notes. There was no obvious pick-up line, and once again I remembered why I don’t knit―I could never find my way back into a piece once I put it down. Even if I’ve left myself instructions, there are times when picking up a writing project is equally difficult.
Unlike knitting, if I don’t remember where I wanted to go with the piece, I can always take a new direction and see where it leads me. I’ve been lucky at times, and found my way back to my original plot. At times, the piece has morphed into something I like even better. Then there are the times when the characters are too angry with me for abandoning them and everything comes to a crashing halt.
The key to staying sane regardless of the outcome is to keep everything you’ve written (in whatever shape in might be), but not the guilt. Let the abandoned characters, muddled plot lines and descriptions that draw blank stares sit for a while. Someday, they’ll come in handy. Or not. But, hey, at least you aren’t knitting.