Gaaa! I’m stuck! What do I do now?

Getting stuck or “writer’s block” is a common problem. It’s just part of the writing process. Here are some ways to get unstuck!

You don’t like being pushed around, right? Well, neither do your characters. When you force your characters to do things they really wouldn’t do, they will cross their arms over their chests, glower at you, and refuse to do anything at all. They will make sure you get good and stuck. So, what do you do?

Check-in with your characters.

Even if you’ve done a lot of work developing them before you started writing the story, it’s always a good idea to reconnect with them. Maybe your character has a phobia of elevators? Or maybe she’s proud of her exceptional hand-eye coordination. Reminding yourself of some of your character’s quirks, fears, desires, etc. will help you to resuscitate a character who is beginning to fade away or turn two-dimensional.

Remind yourself of your character’s deepest desires.

One of the most important things you’ll do when you are developing a character is to figure out what your character wants. Like really wants, more than anything else in the world. That desire, and the fact that you will make it difficult for them to attain it, will drive your story forward. Check in and see if your character’s desire is still important in your story. Did your character’s desire start out strong, then fizzle? Is there something else your character wants now (that’s okay too!)?

Try not to get too attached to your outline.

If you are someone who likes to meticulously map out your story ahead of time, that’s fine. Just try not to get too attached to the outline. Sure, you might have made careful plans for your character. You might know ahead of time exactly how they’ll act or what they decide to do throughout every step of your story. But stop and consider if those actions and decisions are right for your character. I can hear you saying something like, “But if I change what my character does, the story won’t work out the way I want it to.” Well, maybe it won’t. Maybe it will be even more interesting than what you had planned. Some of my best storylines came from characters behaving in ways that I hadn’t foreseen.