10 Tips to Get Unstuck in Your Story
Dawn Alexander
I’m going to tell you a secret. Every author that I have ever known or worked with has moments where the words refuse to magically flow from their fingertips. Every. Single. One. Even the super-successful ones with writing awards on their shelves and bazillions of five-star reviews.
So what happens when you hit that wall? When the characters cross their arms and refuse to open their mouths like toddlers being fed strained beets? When the plot line just drops off and leaves you dangling mid-story?
Here, in no particular order, are ten steps to get you moving again.
Set a timer
Sometimes having the massive expanse of a story stretching before you is too overwhelming to conquer. Set a timer, even if it is only for 15 minutes. You only have to write for that amount of time but you do have to only write for that amount of time. Hands on the keyboard, creating words. No social media. No checking email real quick. Actively make something happen to your characters even if it’s never going to show up in your story.
If you prefer a little competition, find a buddy or group for writing sprints or check out #1K1hr.
The alternative to this is set the same time to let yourself ponder your story. Not your failures as a writer. Not your to-do list. Think about your characters, your story, and where they need to go. This is best done with the computer screen off, the phone facedown, and behind a locked door so no one comes in to “just to let you know (insert completely inane useless information you absolutely did not need to know right at second here).”
Pro Tip: My secret weapon for this is the party-sized mini-tubs of Play-doh. This keeps my hands busy while my brain wanders.
2. Do something mindless
Walk away from your writing space and do something that requires no brain power. Take an actual walk outside. Sit by water. Dust your shelves. Give yourself a moment to step away from the story and let your brain go wherever it needs to.
The key to this is not to let yourself avoid the story by engaging in something else. This is not the time for video games, catching up on serial killer documentaries, or creating this month’s household budget.
Mindlessness is important. There is a reason why people claim they get their best ideas in the shower or right before they fall asleep. That’s when the brain gets to come out and play.
My secret weapon for this one is folding laundry. It serves two purposes. It busies my hands and I get a sense of accomplishment when I see that nice stack of towels.
Pro Tip: I talk aloud the whole time, which leads to the next suggestion.
3. Tell it to the duck
This is a trick that computer programmers use (check out Rubber Duck Debugging. It gives step-by-step instructions that are pretty entertaining.) Pick something that isn’t going to talk back, like a rubber duck, and explain your character, your problem, all of the plot threads that are waving in the wind. It’s possible just hearing it will jumpstart your muse. This gives you a chance to work through all the possible scenarios without external judgement. The ducky isn’t going to make a face if you suddenly have ninjas dropping into the middle of your rom-com. Maybe that’s just what it needs to spicy things up a little bit!
4. Talk to someone
So maybe ninjas in your rom-com isn’t the best idea and you need someone to tell you that. Sometimes you need to hear the story reflected back to you. This is where writing partners, critique groups, or anyone willing to actively listen can be invaluable to breaking through a block.
It’s best to go into those kinds of sessions with an open mind, ready to consider ideas that haven’t occurred to you. It is also good to work with people who aren’t attached to their own ideas. It is your story. If you reject a suggestion because it doesn’t fit your vision, that should be okay. Sometimes those relationships are hard to find.
Pro Tip: Evident Ink offers story consultation/coaching sessions for this purpose.
5. Don’t talk to someone
There is such a thing as too much feedback, especially if you’ve received conflicting opinions from different sources. If your story has been through critique groups and beta readers and multiple edits, it’s probably time to sort through what resonates with you and what doesn’t. What was your original vision for the story and the characters? How do you feel about it now? Where do you think it went off the rails? What feedback best matches that vision?
6. Write a letter
One way to really get inside the character’s head is to write a letter or journal entry as if you are that character. This gives you a chance to see what’s bothering them and why they’ve stopped talking to you.
Alternatively, write a letter to the character explaining why you can’t tell their story. What’s stopping you? This may be where you find your writer’s block isn’t about the story at all but is related to something else in your life that needs to be addressed before you can do anything creative.
7. Have a cheater story
Sometimes you just have to do something different. If you’re neck-deep in a YA love story full of angst, every now and then stepping out with your side piece is okay. Open that thriller or fantasy doc you’ve been keeping in that other folder or that story about the secondary character that you’re dying to tell and have a little fun for a bit.
Pro tip: Set a limit for how long you get to play with the cheater story. They’re like Hershey kisses, one turns into three which turns into eight and leaves you with empty wrappers and nothing completed. In other words, make sure you use a cheater story as a brief escape and don’t run to a new story every time you are blocked.
Sometimes writing is hard and you have get through the hard part.
8. Find the last point you know is true
This happens often to pantsers but even hardcore plotters can find themselves taking a wrong turn. Retrace your steps. Go back to the last part of the story you felt good about and branch off from there. What if the complete opposite happened? What if they don’t kiss? What if they do? What if aliens land and release a pack of rabid guinea pigs? Sometimes veering from what you expected leads to the best destinations.
Pro Tip: Keep the other versions so you can evaluate what best fits your story. Maybe even mix and match.
9. Skip ahead and work backward
Is it the story or the scene? When my daughter was younger, and much more dramatic, we’d have to ask her, “Did you have a bad day or did you have a bad fifteen minutes?” Sometimes that fifteen minutes can make it seem like the other 23 hours and 45 minutes were horrible. But in reality, they were pretty okay. The same works for your story.
Are you stuck on the whole story or just the scene looming in front of you? Are you trying to write a hot love scene with two children fighting over Lego in the next room? Do you know exactly where the characters are going but you are blocked on how to get there? Write the next scene that you know. Think of it as setting up the key points on your map. You can come back and build the bridge when you can see where you’re going.
10. Honor your process
This is the absolute most important tip. Honor your process. Take the time to discover what works and doesn’t work for you. If it doesn’t work, let it go. There are many ways to write a book. There are many ways to be successful in this industry. What works for someone else may not work for you. It is okay to edit as you go. It is okay to pour out the roughest rough draft that ever existed. It is okay to write your scenes out of order. It is okay to spend time thinking about your story rather than forcing yourself to create words that aren’t there yet.
Whatever your process, however you create. It is okay.