A Goodreads user asked Rachel E. Pollock:

How to get back to a manuscript that got stuck at some point?

Rachel E. Pollock Great question, Rajeev.

I'm a big believer in ekphrasis--that a work of art can inspire me to make my own art. I might start writing about a piece of visual or auditory art as a prompt for some initial momentum, but inertia tends to kick in and once i'm going, i can shift gears into working on whatever i've put aside.

So when i am stuck on a manuscript, first i walk away from it--put it aside, work on something else, just let it sit for a while. But when i start thinking it's time to get back to it, i begin collecting sources of inspiration.

I make playlists of songs that i think capture the mood of whatever i'm writing. I start listening to that music and it inspires me to write. I also collect images--photos, paintings, drawings, whatever looks like the world of the manuscript. I used to do this in analog-fashion with a folder of clippings or a collage, but now i use Pinterest. Looking at a moodboard of images which "feel" like my manuscript is really helpful for getting into the mental space of a work.

I don't know if what works for me would work for everyone, but it's worth a shot!

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