I got some great advice on working through a stuck spot in writing.
Ben said:
Write from another corner. Pretend your main character is drunk and then ask them what they think of what’s going on. Pretend a minor character is drunk and ask them to explain what they’ve seen so far.
Heavenscalyx said:
Change writing projects. This is why I usually have 5-6 going simultaneously. Or write something out of sequence, something that’s more worked out in your head.
Seiji said:
Dishes. Laundry. Sweeping. Empty all the trash cans. Something productive that occupies about 5% of your attention and makes you move for 10-20 minutes. Sometimes it’s the only way my dishes get done.
And Kryptaria said:
Change the environment. Move from my desk to the armchair in the den. Stand instead of sit. Go to a coffee shop or park. Change the music or put on an old movie in the background If that doesn’t work, just close your eyes for few minutes.
All of this great advice deserves its own post. Thanks everyone. Multiple strategies and all very helpful.
I like the idea of pretending that certain characters are drunk, only because it seems far more effective than pouring a drink for myself.
My house is now very clean. And I love the changing environments idea. Goes hand in hand with cleaning the house…
Alas, I had previously tried writing out of sequence to get unstuck, so my fic is already out of sequence… but I may do it again 🙂
All good advice! I have different strategies, depending on how I’m stuck. This is probably the first step: to figure out how it is you’re stuck. Because what we like to think of as ‘getting stuck’ or ‘writer’s block’ is actually a bunch of different problems that all look like the same thing on the surface.
When I’m stuck on a sentence or paragraph I don’t know how to write, I ask myself, “What is the character thinking/doing/trying to say/trying to accomplish here?” And then I answer myself…and most of the time, I then write that answer down verbatim because it turns out to be, yanno, what’s going on there.
When I don’t know what a character is thinking/doing/trying to say/trying to accomplish, it usually means I need a change of some sort, or to do something that’ll help me get into the character’s head, because it means I’ve lost touch with their headspace.
Alternatively, sometimes it happens when the character is lying or hiding something from him/herself, in which case I have to rummage around in their headspace till I find it—often by writing crap or talking it out with a friend till the right answer shakes loose.
Bouncing things off a friend is almost always a good option, actually. It never hurts to get another angle on what you’re doing. Helps you shake things up and keep your writing fresh.
When I hit what feels like a brick wall and I just cannot move forward no matter what I do, it tends to mean I’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way. Then I have to go back and find it. I’m not sure how to describe that, actually: I tend to just have an instinct, when I look back over things, that here is the spot where something should’ve gone differently. And that doesn’t always mean that I instantly know what should’ve happened instead. Often I have to try a few things till I work it out and things start flowing again.
When the problem is that I’m kind of losing the thread because the story is too loose and wobbly, I go back and do some editing to tidy the story so far back into a straight line, so that I can move forward again.
And sometimes—#antidiogenes has taught me this—I don’t want to write just because it’s in a spot that’s tough going and I’ll have to do work. What I have to do then is suck it up, buckle down, and write terrible, embarrassing crap that is hopefully roughly in line with what I want until I get through the problem area. Once I’ve done that, then I can go back, remove the dribble, and refine it into something that isn’t too humiliating to ever show my face in public again.
That last one? That is a HUGE one. We all want our writing to be good, but one of the things you learn as a writer is to let yourself suck. Remember, nobody else will see it unless you let them, and you can fix a bad sentence! The important thing when writing fresh material is that you get the ideas down. It’s like art: first you splat the ideas down in broad, ugly shapes, and then you go at them to refine them and add color and light and shadow. Just keep telling yourself, “I’ll fix it later.” Or, if you’re really desperate, “I’ll delete it later.” ^_^
Finally, it is true that now and then, what you really need is a good writer’s tantrum. It’s okay. Almost all of us do it. This is why #innercircle exists. ^_^