Writers...

[PureX]

Perhaps make a couple of possible outlines, and choose the one you think you want to follow as a guide for what to work on in the story.

It's easy to become overwhelmed when you're trying to work on all the parts at once. Better to chose a couple and just focus on those. That's where the outline can help.

 

[Vinayaka]

What do you do when you have a mess of things in your draft and you don't even know where to begin?

I'm about 3/4 done plotting and I have tons of things I want to get settled for the continuation of the story. I also have a lot of changes I want to go back and look at. I have one of my most recent chapters unfinished/unplotted because I need to figure out what happens next before I can figure it out. And on top of it all, I'm trying to decide what I want to keep and what I want to remove because I've already plotted this quarter of the plot before, but after making some renditions on writing my second draft, there are a lot of things that wouldn't work and some changes need to be made.

I considered taking a break, and I essentially did (except it was always in the back of my mind and I'd glance at my story once in a while). It's time to get back into it. I just don't know where to begin. I have ten pages full of notes regarding changes to the past, present, and future of the plot....

I think most writers face these kinds of dilemmas. 5 or more entire edits isn't unusual. Personally, I'll take 3 month or more breaks, so I can re-read with fresh eyes. Breaks, for me, happen best with new projects. Best wishes.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I’m not sure what that means.

Destroy the pieces so you can put them back together as you want.