Check the current story position.
Mark chapters as done, current or pending. These positions give the writing workflow a starting point and distinguish accepted events from future plans.
When you roll back to an earlier chapter, later chapters return to pending. Review their directions before writing forward again so discarded events do not return as accepted history.
Choose a direction you can turn into a scene.
Be specific: force two characters to work together, uncover one piece of information, or reveal a gap in a rule. Set limits too: no reconciliation yet, no reveal of the secret, or no departure from the current location.
Name the characters, place, change and unresolved question. A direction grounded in the scene gives you something concrete to draft.
Decide what the rewrite needs to change.
A scene may need different dialogue, or its entire direction may be wrong. Keep the plan for another prose version, or return to planning and choose a different change.
- Keep the direction: draft another version of the same scene.
- Change the direction: choose a different development for this chapter.
- Roll back: review the earlier chapter and write forward from that position.
Use chapter position and story memory together.
Chapter order records where you are in the timeline. Worldbuilding cards and memory hold characters, places and clues. Review both before continuing.