I love fast drafting — falling in love with my characters and my story as I write my manuscript without stopping to edit or going back to rewrite.

Yes, I love fast drafting … until my story stalls out and I’m staring at my computer screen, muttering, “What happens next?!”

Stalling out is unavoidable, even when I’ve worked through The Book Buddy and charted out my story, including developing my characters, determining the spiritual journey, and figuring out the Disasters (Ds). Getting stuck when you’re fast drafting is often the writer’s version of “not being able to see the forest for the trees.” I’ve got all the details down, but I’ve lost track of the big picture of my story.

At this point, I’ve learned to do one of two things:

1. Go back to the beginning and review the foundations of my story. I review my Story Question — the ” great what if” that fuels my story from page 1, chapter 1 all the way to The End. The Story Question functions like fuel for your car — it keeps it running. If you lose track of your Story Question, your story loses focus. I remind myself that as I write my story, my hero and heroine are answering the Story Question. It may be something like “Is it ever wrong to love someone?” (The Story Question for my novel Somebody Like You). I also make sure I understand my characters. Sometimes I interview them again, let them talk to me, to make sure that I’ve got a good handle on them and am portraying them correctly.
2. Go back to the beginning, tear up the story, and start all over again. Starting all over again, especially when I’m on deadline, is crazy-scary. But sometimes starting over is the best thing to do. Sometimes when I’m backed into a virtual corner it’s not a matter of un-muddling the middle of my story. No. It’s a matter of realizing I’ve written the wrong story. The tension is pretense. There is a better way to tell the romance hidden somewhere in what I’ve written. So I don’t try to salvage anything except the characters. I stare down the deadline and start over. Is it stressful? Yes. Is it the right thing to do? Absolutely yes. I’ve never regretted starting a story over when I’ve known it was the right choice.

Are you just starting to fast draft? Don’t be surprised when your story stalls out. Just remember to try one of these techniques to get your story going again. Already stalled out along the writing road? Then it’s time to take charge of your manuscript again by going back to the beginning and either reviewing the foundation of your story or starting over.