Writers can easily end up in a muddle at the middle of their story. The direction forward becomes unclear, and you’re not sure that what you have plotted so far will reach your projected word count or come to a satisfactory conclusion. This means it’s time to reassess what you’ve done so far.

When you get stuck, go back to the beginning and review what you’ve written. Revise or start a chapter outline so you have a record of what occurs and when it happens in each scene. For a mystery, start a separate file for loose ends or questions you’ll want answered by the end of the book. These will help you see the threads you’ve dropped along the way. They can help to redirect your plot moving forward. You’ll have a clearer picture on where you’ve been and where you need to go.

You can lose your train of thought for many reasons. Maybe you had a muddled direction from the start. Or outside distractions have scattered your thoughts, and you forgot where you were going with the story. Or what you have written doesn’t seem to be working. In some instances, your story may be coming up short and you don’t know what to add to complicate the scene.

Writing a synopsis or a chapter outline can help at this point as can rereading what you’ve done so far. Use it as an opportunity to polish your prose. By the time you get back to where you left off, you should have a better idea of where to go next. You might even have picked up some of those lost threads, which could lead you in a new direction entirely. Or maybe story magic will come into play, and new ideas or characters will pop into your brain.

So don’t be afraid to pause, reflect on what you’ve written, write out the details in a synopsis or outline, and see what’s missing. That should set you on the right path. And if all else fails for a whodunit, throw in another body, have an unexpected person arrive on the scene or go missing, or add a new complication to your sleuth’s personal life.

What has helped you find your story sense again after you’ve lost your way?