Suddenly your mind is empty.
You have no idea where the story goes next.
If this is happening near the start of the story, probably you have not thought your characters and story through well enough.
The solution: Back up, do some brainstorming about who these people are and what the story is about. Use the visualization method I suggested in No Excuses Monday 6. Write those scenes even though they won't be in your story. Keep going until you're writing scenes that ARE in the story.
If this is happening in the middle of the story, probably your problem starts earlier.The solution: Go back to the first third of the story and check what’s driving your characters, what they want, what’s in the way. Write about how they got to the point where you're stuck and what forces are driving them forward. Jump forward in the story, then figure out what needed to happen for your characters to get there.
If you’re stuck near the end, it may be the fear of finishing. Once you finish, it’ll be time to submit it to an agent or publisher and then it might get rejected and then you’ll feel bad. Much safer to stop before the ending.The solution: Promise yourself that you won’t have to submit it to anybody unless you really want to. When you get to that point, decide who is one person you can show it to who you know will be constructive. You can even post part of it under a pen name in an online critiquing site to get feedback.
Make it safe to take each small step and eventually you'll find you've taken the whole journey.
And one more solution for good measure:Pretend that your writing block is a person and talk to it.
Ask it what the problem is.
Ask it what you need to do to move on.
It might say you should take a break, or it might say you need to disguise that serial killer some more so your brother-in-law won’t realize you’ve based it on him.
Make the process fun instead of work and the answers will come out to play.
(Sometimes it really helps to get support; that's why I started the Breakthrough Strategy Program. It gives you 60 days of friendly, supportive online coaching, either in a group mode or on a one-to-one basis. Find out how it can help you--details are at www.jurgenwolff.com)
