{"id":1542,"date":"2021-10-06T09:44:33","date_gmt":"2021-10-06T13:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/?p=1542"},"modified":"2021-10-06T09:44:33","modified_gmt":"2021-10-06T13:44:33","slug":"knotted-brainwaves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/2021\/10\/06\/knotted-brainwaves\/","title":{"rendered":"Knotted Brainwaves"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On October 16, 2020, Katie W. wrote, What do you do when you just get stuck? Like when you know what needs to happen next, but not quite how to get there? In my WIP, I need to clear up a question the characters have, then write about a few battles before setting up a major plot twist and doing something with a subplot that\u2019s been lurking in the background. I can explain what I need to do, I just can\u2019t quite actually make myself do it. (Which was probably a big part of all the rambling in an earlier version.) Any advice?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In solidarity, Melissa Mead wrote, I\u2019m in the same boat.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been on that leaky raft many times too, and sometimes the water is up to my chin before I get to dry land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Christie V Powell wrote, When I\u2019m stuck, I usually switch to paper. Something about writing on paper often sparks my creativity again and gets me going. Sometimes it’s the scene I need, but usually I end up brainstorming or short-hand \u201cblocking\u201d. It gets pretty messy. Maybe it\u2019s just that I know there is no way any but me will be able to read it anyway.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I like that! I\u2019m a keyboarder all the way, but many writers swear that using the hand and arm engages the brain most wonderfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Urgency is not a writer\u2019s friend, not my friend anyway. I found this lovely quote from a Wall Street Journal<\/em> interview with mystery\/crime\/humor (and more) writer Lawrence Block: \u201cWhen I\u2019m working on something, and can devote myself entirely to it, I\u2019ll put in a long stretch of hours.\u00a0 But much of that time I don\u2019t really seem to be doing anything.\u00a0 I check email, I surf some websites, I check my Kindle sales several times an hour, I play computer solitaire, I play non-computer solitaire, and somewhere in there a couple thousand words get written.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look him up on Wikipedia and gape at the number of books he\u2019s written, both under his own name and under pseudonyms, which he probably uses because his publisher can\u2019t keep up with him. His books are fun\u2014high school level at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not that relaxed about writing, and I rarely put in a long stretch, either. When I check emails or play solitaire, I take myself off the clock. But I agree with the principle, that being tense doesn\u2019t help. We distract our mind with other stuff, but our story still lurks in the background, which may be why ideas come when we\u2019re hiking (especially if we forgot to bring a pad and pen) or in the shower, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lately, I remind myself that I\u2019ve been stuck hundreds of times and gotten unstuck, so I\u2019ll almost certainly do so again. Katie W., I see by consulting the blog dashboard that you\u2019ve been commenting here for over two years and, I\u2019d guess, have been writing for longer than that. You, too, can use the refrain: I\u2019ve done it before<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some strategies I use when I\u2019m stuck:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My main go-to is my notes. Some of what I write there is about my story and why I can\u2019t seem to write it. A lot is whining and worrying, as in, What if never write another book?<\/em> or I should know what I\u2019m doing by now<\/em>. Whether I\u2019m whining or story-speculating, though, my time is on the clock. I\u2019m writing, so it counts. (This is one reason my daily goal is in time rather than words or pages.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my notes, I often write lists of what might happen next. A list may yield something surprising and unexpected and may be enough to get me moving again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I may take a walk in our beautiful backyard, where the flowers in the warm seasons or our glacial-era rocks in the winter smooth out my knotted brainwaves. Or I may walk on our treadmill. If on the treadmill, I don\u2019t consider this exercise. I set the speed at super slow, like two miles an hour, and keep redirecting my slippery mind to my writing problem. Sometimes it works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being stuck often makes me sleepy. I take a short nap, twenty minutes, max, and wake up refreshed. Sometimes that works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(No single thing always works.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I\u2019ve said here more than once, my mystery Stolen Magic<\/em> gave me the worst and longest case of Stuck of any book. In despair, I decided to take a month off writing to do other things and recharge, which felt weird. I was sure this would do the trick. It didn\u2019t. I was exactly as stuck when I returned to my manuscript as I had been before. But this may work for you, and you may have heirloom silver cutlery you\u2019ve been meaning to polish for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, revising my latest five-to-ten pages gets me moving again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good remedy more than once has been to find the spot in my story when my fingers started to feel mired in mud. I interrogate myself about what\u2019s going on there. Did I accidentally solve a problem I need to keep unresolved? Did I start a tangent that will send me writing in circles and doesn\u2019t have much to do with my main conflict? Did I make a minor character too important? It\u2019s like the knots that seem to knot themselves when I sew on a button or repair a seam. Work stops. If I can\u2019t untangle the knot, I have to cut it out and start with new thread from that spot. If we can identify the source of the evil, we can delete it and keep going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or I may interrogate myself about what\u2019s coming up. Am I stuck because I see trouble ahead? Katie W. writes: I need to clear up a question the characters have, then write about a few battles before setting up a major plot twist and doing something with a subplot that\u2019s been lurking in the background.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can ask ourselves what interests us most in our plot to-do list. For me, if it were the major plot twist, I might jump to that part\u2014in my notes\u2014and write it. If I\u2019m happy with it, I\u2019ll copy it into my story. Then I\u2019ll see what light it casts on everything else in my list. Maybe the plot twist itself answers the question or sheds new light on it. I can ask myself if I need the subplot. If yes, I may be able to reveal it quickly or wrap it in with the pot twist. I can ask myself how I can use the battles to develop or resolve my major conflict so that they\u2019re integral to my plot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Katie W., since you asked your question a long time ago, what\u2019s happened? Where does your story stand right now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are three prompts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n