Wednesday on Writing: When You’re stuck

 It happens to all of us from time to time. 

Below are my thoughts on what to try when the words won't come. 

Re-read.  Read what you have, and remind yourself of how far you’ve come.  It’s a good rule of thumb to go back and re-read your entire story every 5 chapters.  This refreshes your memory about plot twists and conversations and, if you are a pantser like me, sometimes you will get an “aha!” moment where something that happened early in the book can suddenly work with a twist later down the road. Almost like your muse knew what it was doing all along.
 

Do something mindless.  For some reason driving, being in water (washing dishes or taking a shower), folding laundry, vacuuming or tidying up, starting to paint that room you’ve been putting off—always helps jar something loose.  Maybe we use a different side of our brain for some of these tasks.  But it can help.

 Write the scene you see happening next.  This does not always work for pantsers like me.  The fun is in not knowing what will happen next and if I write a scene that’s farther along in the story than I am, it can spoil the “carrot on the stick” motivation I had going to get to that scene.  But sometimes it’s all you can do.

 Write something else.  Now tread with caution here because this is how we end up with 47 unfinished stories.  But sometimes taking yourself out of one story and into something else will help.  Maybe a blog post, or Facebook rant would work, or, if you do have some unfinished stories, immerse yourself in one of them.  Maybe something you wrote a few years ago and never finished will inspire something for your current WIP. Some writers find it helpful to just start typing random words and phrases on the page, sort of a way to purge the clutter, unclog the drain, and get the right words flowing again.  

 

Refill the well.  A friend of mine used to talk about letting the well fill up again.  Read.  Watch movies.  Bake.  Take a break from the blank page and create elsewhere or just give your mind and body a little break.  Hot cup of something, a cozy blanket and a good book or movie.  Sometimes that empty canvas in our mind is our body’s way of telling us it needs a break.

Til next time, remember...  Stories aren’t written all at once.  They’re written one sentence at a time.  Keep writing!