It happens to everyone – you’re barreling along with your story and come to a screeching halt. You’ve written yourself into a corner. Your protagonist doesn’t know what to do next. You’re stuck. In a post on Writers in the Storm, Janice Hardy offers advice on getting un-stuck.
“Getting stuck is your writer’s subconscious telling you there’s a problem, and keeping you from making it worse,” Hardy says. “Your brain knows there’s something not right and it’s putting on the brakes before you write nine chapters and then realize you have to scrap the whole things and start over.”
Most of the time, getting stuck means you have a problem with your plot or story. Hardy suggests ten tricks that can get you moving again. Here are a few:
- Look at your protagonist’s goals and motivations. Is it the wrong goal or the wrong reason? “The wrong goal or motivation can keep a story from moving forward,” Hardy says. “What does the protagonist really want? Forget what you think she ought to do for the plot, what does she want now, based on everything you’ve written?” If your character’s choice conflicts with your plot, figure out which one you need to shift.
- Reexamine your external conflict. Do you have one? “Make sure the conflict facing your protagonist is an external problem he can physically interact with,” Hardy says. A goal like “finding love” is worthy, but vague. “Asking friends to fix me up” is a task the character can act on.
- Ensure your backstory serves the story. If your hero’s backstory doesn’t support her motivations, her actions might feel wrong. “Try adding information that provides the drive needed to move your protagonist to the next step,” Hardy suggests. “Or maybe revise the character’s history so it fits what the protagonist is doing now, and supports her goals and motivations.”
- Rearrange the scenes. Do they flow better in a different sequence? “Maybe the protagonist needs to experience something before that scene takes place, or maybe he knows too much by then, so the scene falls flat,” Hardy says. Experiment with scene order and see what happens when you move an action to another place.
- Check in with the antagonist. Are they all in or just going through the motions? Is your antagonist working as hard as your hero? “A weak antagonist gives the protagonist nothing to struggle against, so all their actions end up feeling weak as well (which often stalls the story),” Hardy says.
You can read the rest of her good advice at the link below.
