A Three-Step Plan for Returning to a Partially Finished Manuscript

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Getting back to an old manuscript after a break is often harder than starting one anew.

Last week, I sent my new manuscript off to my agent (yay!). This was a bit trickier than usual, because I’ve been juggling two projects—revising this manuscript while drafting another. They’re completely different markets and genres (an adult science fiction and a middle grade fantasy) so there’s no cross-contamination of ideas or styles, but it did mean that after I received feedback on the adult novel, I had to give it most of my attention to meet my due date.

That left my poor little first draft languishing for two months while I revised the other manuscript. And after two months of ignoring it, it’s a little tough to just dive back in and start writing again.

Being away from a writing project for a while kills your momentum for that project.

So Where Were We Again? Salvaging Half-Finished Manuscripts

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

I have a half-finished manuscript in my files (okay, I have several). Raise your hand if you also have a manuscript you like that's collecting dust because you're not sure what to do with it. You stopped work on it for whatever reason, and now that you're looking at it again, there are, well, issues.

It's not uncommon for our early novels to wind up HFNs (half-finished novels) because we were still learning and figuring this whole writing thing out. It's not even unusual for seasons writers to lose steam halfway through, because you don't always know where a story will take you. Sometimes it's to a great story place, other times, it's right into a deep dark hole.

If you happen to be in that hole, here are some common issues with HFMs and ways to help you salvage the story you love.