I Put This Book Aside for Two Years. Here’s What Happened

I Put This Book Aside for Two Years. Here’s What Happened

From The Wordslinger Podcast by It's all about the story here.

May 15, 2026 · 33 min

About this episode

The episode discusses how taking a break from a stalled book can lead to new insights and creative breakthroughs.

Sometimes the best thing you can do for a stuck book is stop forcing it. In this episode of the Wordslinger Podcast, I’m back from a two-day drive from Texas to Pennsylvania, and somewhere along those long highway hours, a stalled novel finally started working again. A book I had put aside nearly two years ago suddenly clicked into place—not because I was grinding harder, but because I’d given the story time, space, and enough life experience to come back to it with new perspective. This one is for writers, creatives, and creative entrepreneurs who have unfinished drafts, stalled projects, muddy middles, abandoned ideas, or old folders full of “someday” stories. Sometimes a book isn’t dead. Sometimes it just needs to wait until you’re ready to understand what it’s trying to become. I also talk about why thinking counts as writing, how road trips, showers, walks, and quiet time can unlock creative breakthroughs, how I use AI carefully in my own process, and why characters—not gimmicks, plot devices, or even cool technology—are the real heart of a story. If you’re on your writing and publishing journey, subscribe to the channel. This is the place for practical, honest, real-world…

People in this episode

Host: I

Topics covered

  • writing
  • creativity
  • storytelling
  • unfinished drafts
  • creative breakthroughs

Keywords

  • writing process
  • creative habits
  • story development
  • AI in writing
  • road trip inspiration

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Texas, Pennsylvania

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