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5 Things to Try When You Write and get Stuck

Many writers start working enthusiastically on a new fiction project, only to run out of steam halfway through. Though frustrating, this can be a great opportunity to improve the piece. This article contains five concrete exercises to help writers regain their excitement and generate new ideas for a project that’s hit a roadblock.

Whether your suffering from a bad case of writer’s block or merely trying to decide between two possible endings, every writer is familiar with the feeling of being stuck on a project. Discovering, how to write with excitement can be more difficult than it seems.  Once, you learn how to avoid writers block, it will help prevent you from getting stuck. Though it is frustrating, and occasionally alarming, to find oneself unable to make progress on a story, being stuck is usually a temporary experience. It can even be a good thing, requiring authors to rethink elements of their story that need improvement. The following exercises can help writers explore their work’s problems and potential.

1. Give It Time

When authors hit a sudden roadblock, their first instinct is to work harder to overcome their efforts. They may invest more time than usual on their writing, make or revise an outline, or examine similar works by other authors in an attempt to solve their story like a math problem. However, if this approach has failed to give results, the best tactic may be to take a break. Take a few days to work on another project, ideally, one that differs significantly from the project you’re stuck on. Stimulate other parts of your creative brain by consuming different forms of media: if you’re working on a short story, try reading poetry or watching a great movie. Let your subconscious work on your story overnight while you sleep. Sometimes a short break is all it takes to see a story with fresh eyes.

2. Make a Big Change

This exercise may be helpful if boredom is preventing progress on a story with a strong beginning. Take a problematic scene of your story and decide on one significant change you could make. So perhaps you decide to begin with this scene using a minor character’s perspective. Or you can change the main character’s gender, age, or occupation. If you’re writing a science-fiction piece, imagine the scene as if it were part of a Western, or a melodramatic romance. This will help your brain let go of its notions of what the story should or most be and allow you to explore new possibilities that otherwise might never have crossed your mind. It can also renew enthusiasm for the story.

3. Talk It Out

Sometimes authors know what direction they want the plot to go in, but have difficulty depicting their characters giving believable reactions. No matter how meticulous you are in crafting realistic dialogue or creating complex personalities the scene falls flat — and the harder you try, the stiffer it may seem to write and keep your flow. You may feel the characters you created are openly rebelling against their creator. Instead of struggling to regain control of the piece, try humoring the renegades and ‘listen’ to what your characters want. Some writers swear by the theatrical approach which is one of the four basic theatrical forms either implied, defined, or derived by or from the Greek Philosopher and scientist Aristotle. They pull up a chair, pour their characters favorite drink, and ‘converse’ with their character, asking about his desires and fears. If this seems a little too eccentric, you can imagine a conversation between yourself and any number of characters. You can even write out a series of questions beforehand and record the character’s answers as if you were interviewing her. Whether or not you believe your characters have a life of their own, this is a good strategy to give your characters, depth, and make a problematic scene seem natural and unforced.

4. Time Travel

If you’ve become bogged down in solving the logistics of a particular scene, or if you’re still excited about the project but bored with the part you’re at, one answer is to simply skip ahead to the next scene. This seems like an obvious solution, but many writers can lose perspective when wrestling with a difficult scene. There is no law that the scenes in a story most be written in chronological order. Moreover, by moving on to the next scene, you may uncover just what is holding up the story at its problem points. Or you may find that the parts that were giving you so much trouble aren’t even necessary.

The mental time machine can travel backward as well as forward. Think of the last dramatic event, crucial decision, or shocking revelation in your piece. Then try to change history: what would have happened to your characters if things had gone differently? Would your main character have gotten a divorce if she hadn’t read that incriminating e-mail? If so, would her reasons be the same? If not, what would she have done instead?

5. It’s Not You, It’s Me

Sometimes a writer will require more dramatic tactics to make progress on a story. If the author has developed a pattern of frustration around a story, this may be creating more stress than the actual problems with the piece. In this case, significantly changing the writing environment or inverting routines may lead to inspiration. A night owl may wake up early for a couple of days and type away as dawn breaks. A dedicated coffeehouse scribe might try renting a silent study room at the local library, or writing in the laundry room. Many noted writers worked in unorthodox settings, such as on their porch or in bed. Others adopted interesting costumes — writing in a formal gown, or a chef’s hat.

Stalling while writing a story is no cause for panic. It can even be a unique opportunity to stretch unused writing talents examine misconceptions, and bring richness to a piece. These concrete ways to experiment with a challenging story can help develop truly original and well-crafted writing.