Most writer’s blocks, and problems with story have to do with motivation, lack of greatest fears and greatest dreams of the main character.

You’ve got a great idea – a great character, a great problem, a incredible theme…but you’re half-way through the book and suddenly, you don’t know where to go. Your scene seems boring, flat, and suddenly you’re looking at the entire book wondering how you got into this mess.

This happened to me on my second contracted book Tying the Knot. It was the early days, and I still hadn’t figured out how to structure a novel, how to break past my writer’s block. I was home, on furlough, doing a lot of traveling, and somehow I had to fit in writing. However, I was just blank. I knew the epiphany, I knew the setting, and things that had to happen…I just couldn’t figure out what to do in the next chapter. So it sat, for about 3 weeks, that deadline tightening, like a noose around my neck.

Until I figured out how break free. How to blitz. What is a blitz? A blitz is any swift, vigorous attack, barrage, or defeat…And that’s what it took for me to get my story out of a holding pattern, past writer’s block, to victory .

Today we’re going to talk about how to blitz your way out of writer’s block,

First thing I did was look at my players – my characters. I went back to their motivations, the things that were driving them, the goals they had, their greatest dreams and fears. Every chapter should have Action Objectives, or the purpose of the scene, and the goals of each character in the scene.

For example, half-way through the book, the conflict had been solved…my heroine, who was healing from a traumatic experience, had moved to a place where she was safe, and was getting on with her life. She’d met a nice guy who she was falling for…and everything seemed to be fine.

I knew that, in about 3 chapters, I was going to rock her world by bringing her fears to her front door, but what was I going to do in the mean time?

I went back to her greatest dreams, and her values — safety, and service. She’s a nurse, but because of her traumatic past, she also wants to be away from the inner city, where she once worked.

I asked…what could rock her world right now?

The answer to this question – whether it’s plot related, or part of her psychological or emotional journey should spark ideas to help you break free of writer’s block. Make a list of those ideas, and tuck them away, because next week we’ll be turning to our hero, to see what he can do to help us blitz!

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