There are two camps in romance writer land. One is made up of plotters, writers who have their books mapped out before they sit down to write. The other is pantsters, who are fly by the seat of their pants.
My process has been different for every book. However, with both methods I’ve somehow written my way into a corner and found myself stuck.
As a writer you already know there are several stages to being stuck.
STAGE ONE: PANIC – OHMYGOD! I already signed the contract and blew my advance in Nordstrom’s shoe department. If I don’t figure out what comes next, my publisher is going to sue my ass off.
STAGE TWO: WHINE – Cry to anyone who will listen. A writer friend who’s not on deadline is usually a good pick. Whining to a spouse who’s just spent ten hours on his feet at work is a bad pick. Trust me.
STAGE THREE: AVOIDANCE – Make coffee. Take a nap. Toss in a load of laundry. Clean the house. Mow the lawn. Stain the deck. Anything to avoid your WIP.
STAGE FOUR: GET UNSTUCK.
Back is September I shared my favorite method for getting unstuck. Since then I’ve tried two more.
1. Skip ahead to another scene. There’s no rule that says you have to write your scenes in order. Pick out a juicy one that you’ve been itching to write.
2. Open your computer file to your WIP, and just sit there for your allotted writing time. No e-mail. No web surfing. No computer games. No distractions. Usually a solution will pop into your head. It may not be a good one, but just go with it until you can come up with a better one.
Well, don’t hold out on me. Have y’all tried any new methods for getting unstuck?
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