I think my writer's brain needs a jump start. It seems like I've been working on my MG for ages, but yet I'm only on page 36. I'm not even a quarter of the way through it and I'm already stuck. This is a first for me, believe it or not. Usually, ideas flow to me freely and I have an active outline in my mind. This time around my outline is a bit sketchy. I know how I want the story to end and I know the conflicts, but I just can't get the middle parts right. I feel like the plot is moving too fast and I'm not sure how to slow it down. Today, I sent the whole whopping 36 pages over to one of my betas and hopefully, she'll have an idea for me. And that might be the key. To step back and let someone else have a shot at it. It's what I used to enjoy so much about co-authoring. Writing alone makes it much more difficult to get past these road blocks.
What do you do when your story needs to be re-evaluated. Do you put it in a drawer for a couple weeks? Do you ask others for their opinions? Or do you just force yourself to write through it, assuming it'll work out in the end?
Aww, that's sad that you're stuck. I hate being stuck. I don't know what I do. It's different every single time with every story. Right now, for SCALES, I just had to step away and take a huge break. I haven't written for weeks. I was burned out, and I don't think it had anything to do with the story.
ReplyDeleteOther times I've just written through it. Usually when I'm stuck it's because I'm not writing what I REALLY want to write. I'm forcing things based on rules or what I think people will want. When I'm writing deep from that place inside me that is almost painful to expose, the writing never gets stuck.
That's what I ended up doing; writing through it. I went with my gut and changed POV's from my MC to her best friend. They'll switch back and forth several times in the story and it just feels natural in this instance. I'll write more on this decision in a blog entry. It's still kind of scary because if it doesn't work that'll be a lot of rewriting!
ReplyDeleteLook at this way...no writing is ever wasted. :)
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