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Stuck Writing? — Step Back or Ramp It Up.
We all get stuck sometimes. This is my go-to strategy for getting unstuck
The feeling of being stuck sucks
If you’re a writer you know exactly what I mean. If it is the blank page syndrome, or more likely the; where-do-I-go-from-here syndrome.
I just got feedback from my writing coach on an opening sequence I have worked on for 6 years. That opening sequence is almost more real for me than reality. I have lived and breathed that for more iterations than I can count.
He told me, one week before I wrote this, that it was too noisy. I was over establishing. He wanted me to scrap everything and pick only one, maybe two elements to write about. I only knew that opening. My pride. It established mystery, had humor, established scenery, and most importantly, dove deep into the main character. It had everything. And now I was to strip all that away and start over?
I sat staring at the screen, my skin tingling with anxiety and fingers leaving small pools of sweat on the keyboard. Then all those bad questions started to flow through me, you know, the evil questions like: am I up to this? Will I ever finish the book? Am I a bad writer? Should I begin playing bowling instead? You know, The Questions.