A peculiar thing happens when a writing assignment is put on temporary hold once the writer’s already begun. The momentum is lost, and like a popped balloon, all the air goes out of the project.

Weeks or months later, when the job starts up again, the writer in a sense has to start anew. The mood has been broken.

The energy that initially fueled the assignment, be it through discussions with the client or research done online, has vanished, like the scent of a crime in an open field after a downpour.

Imagine dating someone you start to fall for – then he disappears into the blue for months. When he returns, it’s like starting all over. Hopefully, you can reclaim the magic.

The bigger the assignment and the longer the hiatus, the more likely this predicament will occur. Content quality suffers when writing assignments are characterized by fits and starts.