 Get Past The Stuck PlaceSometimes your story seems to throw up a big wall and you don’t know how to fix it. You’re stuck. It happens to all writers. Don’t despair. With all the character development and story planning you’ve done, your story seems stuck and you don’t know where to go next or what to write. Take action to root out the problem so you can continue writing if you know what to do. The first thing to do is not consider your story a failure, or worse, that you as a writer are a failure. It’s only a process glitch. Tips to Revive The Story ThreadApproach your stop point depending on the root cause. Use these tips to kick your story forward.
The tips are aimed at helping you identify why you are stalled with the story. The resolution to getting unstuck is often in the story structure or in your cast of characters. Positive Moves Get ResultsTaking action is the quickest way to get past your story impediment. Positive motivation to make the story the best it can be will get your story moving. And, a positive outlook that this is just an obstacle for you the writer to overcome kicks you out of negative thinking. Every writer has moments when the story doesn’t feel right. Remember that writing a mystery novel is a process. When you work to get past a stuck place, you improve the process. Find your “man with a gun in his hand” and keep writing. Zara Altair Photo by Lava Lavanda on Unsplash
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 Stay In The FlowTo maximize your writing time, follow two guidelines for writing your mystery. Go into the story. Stay in the flow. When you go into the story, you visualize the scene - who is there, what they say and do, and the surroundings. Your work is to translate what you visualize into words. A focus on writing keeps you in the flow. Any distractions that stop the flow slow you down. Each writer writes at their own pace. You can write faster whatever your pace by avoiding roadblocks that stop your writing. Preparation gives you the background - characters, story world, setting. The more you know the faster you will write. 8 Tips to Keep Writing When you are ready to write your story, set up your writing space with few distractions. Stay focused on writing. Distractions come in many forms, so to avoid a break in your flow, keep your writing time distraction-free.
You may discover your own personal writing blockers. Recognize them and keep writing. Train Your BrainCommit to your writing time. The biggest obstacle to blocking your writing flow is you. Your mind will come up with reasons to stop writing. I’ll just take this one phone call or answer this one email. Ignore those temptations. When you honor your writing time, you strengthen your commitment. And, the more you write, the better you’ll feel about the rewards of progressing toward the end of your mystery. Some writers create the first draft on paper. They perform their first edit and catch up on those research questions as they enter it on the computer. Others, write in the morning and edit in the afternoon or evening. Others, edit what they wrote the day before to get into the story to continue with their writing time for the day. Some do a shortcut to this by ending mid-sentence and picking up at that point in the next writing session. Experiment with different methods to find the one that works for you. Each writing session gets you closer to finishing your mystery. The better the flow, the sooner you get to The End. Zara Altair  Build Your Story Around the Main Events |
Zara Altair, Author The puzzle of politics, the mystery of murder in ancient Italy. After Rome, before the Middle Ages, Italy belonged to the Ostrogoths. Archives
November 2019
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