Getting Unstuck

 

It happens. 

We all reach that point in the story where we feel stuck. For me, it often happens about halfway through the story. And right before the end. Often somewhere in the editing process as well. (It happens a lot.)

It's like the wheels turn into bricks, and the path turns to icy sludge.

And when that happens, argh. I want to set the pages or something on fire. But that is surprisingly not as effective at resolving the matter.

So how do I get unstuck? There’s no one guaranteed way, but here are a few of my favorites.  

Get Physical 

Physical fitness isn't precisely at the top of my task list when I’m in the middle of a deadline. But there’s little better than getting the blood pumping when the story won’t move. Often when my body feels slow and stagnant, it reflects in my writing, sometimes bogging me down even more. 

It doesn’t have to be a lot of activity. Sometimes a gentle walk suffices. 

In some cases when it’s a bad pain day and I need to get a lot more done, deep slow breaths help me clear my thoughts, even if it isn’t enough to resolve it. 

If you need more than that, meditation can also help. The Calm app as well as Headspace provide breathing tracks along with guided meditations to help, and K. A. Emmons provides guided meditations for authors on YouTube. (This is one of my favorites, but each one of hers I have tried has been lovely.)

Ask Someone You Trust for Their Opinion 

This works in two ways. Sometimes there are people in your life who understand what you’re working on and how to get yourself out of the mire. They may have good advice to share. In that case, asking for their opinion can lead to direct solutions.

And sometimes you have people in your life who will tell you what they think and, as soon as they do, you realize you know what it is you really want to do. If this is the case, remember to be respectful and courteous. Most will understand if you explain that other people throwing out ideas helps you spring off the initial concept to new ones as well rather than the implication that you don’t value their advice. (Having been on both sides of this, honesty helps so much and reduces the risk of hurt feelings.)

Mark Down the Motivations

I don't always outline (I adore the discovery process too much to be able to commit to much more structure than a rough outline that gets modified significantly as the story progresses). 

But when a story starts feeling like quicksand, one of the first things I check is whether I'm clear on the motivations of the characters. All of them. Even if they don't have a spoken line in the scene. And the motivations don’t even have to be big. But everyone always wants something.

One of my favorite Kurt Vonnegut quotes on writing refers to this situation: “Make your characters want something right away even if it's only a glass of water. Characters paralyzed by the meaninglessness of modern life still have to drink water from time to time.”

Figuring out the motivations and marking them down on a scrap of paper can go a long way toward breathing new life into the scene and helping you know where to go moving forward. 

Approach It from Another Perspective 

Sometimes I feel stuck because I've started the scene at the wrong point or in the wrong POV. (I like to joke that I start every story two chapters too early or two chapters too late.) 

When that happens, the simplest thing I can do is just start rewriting a bit. I like to try starting the scene from another point or a separate character. As I write in third person deep limited POV, this requires that I consider the details that that character notices (sometimes I combine this with the motivation exercise above). Those added details often bring to light why the scene is not working or what is currently missing to make it stronger. 

Recognize It Might Be Part of Your Process 

Becca Symes often talks about questioning the premise and analyzing why we respond the way we do. In quite a few of her Quitcast videos on getting unstuck and the Stuck List, she discusses how sometimes it is just a part of the process for us to get stuck. Our minds are still working through the story, and really what we need is to just be stuck for a little bit.

While a little alarming to know that you can’t just blast through it, it is comforting to know that it may simply be a necessary stage for your mind to continue processing and refining the story before you can move on.

Feeling stuck happens to all of us. It may even be part of your process. Whatever the cause, know that this feeling and sensation won't last forever. So try not to worry. It may take multiple attempts or techniques to move past the stuckness, but eventually you will get unstuck. This is just a part of being an author. And sometimes it’s good just to know you are not alone. 

So what about you? Do you have any favorite techniques for getting yourself out of being stuck? 

Jessica M. Butler is a USA Today bestselling romantic fantasy author who never outgrew her love for telling stories and playing in imaginary worlds. She lives with her husband and law partner, James Fry, in

rural Indiana where they are quite happy with their two cats and all of the wildlife and trees.

You can find her at https://jmbutlerauthor.com/

Writing Through the Rough Patches

Getting past stuck or numb or despondent or any other major block is as individual as the writer, I suspect. I carry a bag of tools around (virtually, y'know) to help when I sit staring at a blinking cursor for too long. Try a few of them on for fit.

1. The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. This is a 25 year old book about breaking through creative

blocks. It's still popular because for a lot of people, it works. I'm working through it myself, right now. If you try this, don't just read it. USE it. Even if it seems hokey.
2. Expeditions. No one creates in a vacuum. And sometimes all that's needed to shake the brain loose is a trip to a museum or art gallery or botanical garden. Maybe a hike in the woods or a trip to the beach. All safely masked and socially distanced, of course.
3. A break. I'm on writing hiatus this week - in part because another class of medication failed to prevent migraines and came with a host of really awful side effects. The weight of not getting the productivity I thought I ought to be achieving each day (while suffering chronic daily migraines) got to be more than sanity could support. Hence a little break. It's all good. I have a new med that seems to be helping and a little lightening of the load for a few days seems to really be shifting things. Don't overlook the power of a break to refresh you and your outlook.
4. Repetitive physical tasks. Bonus if they're outside. Many times, a block is little more than over thinking. Something I would know nothing about. 🙄 So I go out into the garden and pull weeds or plant flowers. Getting into the dirt is mostly a mindless task, but it takes just enough brain power to absorb the critical brain and leaves the subconscious/story brain free to do a little roving.
5. Create something else. Cook. Sew. Draw. Color. Paint. Build models. Whatever. Just make it something you don't make money from. No professional pressure. This is about wasting time on profitless (or so we imagine) play. You recover a little sense of joy in doing the things that aren't quite as fraught as writing.
6. Ask for an immersion weekend. Ask the fam to support and protect your weekend from all interlopers (including them). You need supportive and cooperative family for this one - because someone else has to take ALL responsibility for keeping life and limb together for a weekend while you do nothing but type as fast as you can on a story even if you don't know what happens next. The point here is to have people bring you things - tea, goodies. You're asking to be taken care of for two days while you let slip all responsibility for anything and everything. I won't pretend that guilt doesn't creep in. It does. Then you remind yourself that for two days nothing is your circus and those are not your monkeys. Someone else can handle them. Your circus is the story. Make it ridiculous just to see what happens.

It really helps to have an entire arsenal against stuckness. Not only do different people need different tools, what works for you one time may not the next, so having options tips this whole creating thing in your favor.

Finding Inspiration

pic from my hiking adventures

If you’re a writer, you’ve undoubtedly been asked where do you get your ideas from? About a thousand times. And the topic of the week might give you an easy way to answer: what other media inspires you? 

I write sci-fi and fantasy. And for me, it’s almost a right brain left brain kind of thing. So it makes sense that I’m inspired to write the different genres in different ways.

When I’m writing the future and coming up with all sorts of made-up tech I thrive off other science fiction media. Anyone watch Altered Carbon? Fan-freaking-tastic! The character journeys were fun to watch unfold, but it was the world and all those small details—how the characters interacted with and used that world that fired off hundreds of ideas. 

When I’m writing fantasy I need nature. When I’m dreaming up completely new worlds and magic I need to walk under the trees and step to the cliff’s edge. If I really can’t get out, or my imagination needs to travel to the type of local I’ve never been to, photography saves me. Beautiful images, vivid or faded, breath taking scenery.

#Ullrthehuskypup

Yes, I know the act of writing stems from the same brain location, but activating the scientific part of me is a completely different function than painting worlds with words. 

I should really remember this for when I’m feeling stuck in my writing. I sort of do consciously think this way, I frequently take the husky pup (I still miss my Loki dog) for walks to get the mind going, and I’ll binge on sci-fi movies/shows for ideas. 

But if I actively try to kickstart the part of my brain I need…sooner, maybe my sticky spots will be shorter lived! 

How about you? I envy the people that get inspired by music. So, do you use a certain type of media to inspire you? 

Curing Writer's Block

Happy Friday the 13th! Gather up your good luck charms while ye may. I've got mine.

We're chatting difficult scenes and writer's block this week.

Have you ever had one of those arguments where long after it's over, you bolt awake knowing exactly what you SHOULD have said??

That's me writing scenes. Any scene. I've learned this about myself, though, so I give myself permission to write my the high emotion/high conflict scenes as pieces of junk first. They flow pretty easily because I know that overnight or in the shower the next morning, I'll suddenly get this brain dump of all the things I should have had these characters say to make everything much worse.

Yeah, but what about the scenes that aren't like that? *Shrug* I can't tell you what scene was hardest. Mainly because I get stuck so often. When I do, though, it is almost always because I can't see a way forward within whatever scene I'm working on. I get wrapped up in the back and forth between characters, but I may not necessarily be moving the story or conflict. That stops me every time, and I bog down.

To move forward, I have to walk away from the recalcitrant scene. I move on to the next place where I know what happens. Or I work backwards from the end of the book. I almost always know where and how my books end. I know the beginning. I very know the middle. Which, of surprise to no one, is where I get stuck. But you know what? There's no magic in writing in a straight line. There's no reason not to skip and hop around inside a story if it's what breaks you free.

For me, working from the end reminds me of what these characters have at stake. I'm reminded of what matters to the arc of the story. Based on that, I can go back to the scene where I bogged down and I can ruthlessly pare it down to its bones - to the skeleton that supports the tissues and fibers of the story.

I suspect strongly that one of the major cures of writers block is giving up the notion that there are Right Answers when it comes to plotting and executing a story. There's only 'hey, this looks like an interesting direction, let's try it!'