by Jeanne Takenaka, @JeanneTakenaka
A number of years ago, I was stuck, stuck, stuck on a crucial plot point in my story. I knew what I wanted to see happen—what needed to happen, but the plot and characters weren’t cooperating. After letting the problem noodle in my head for too long, I called a writing mentor.
And she said, “Maybe this thing can’t happen.”
In my thoughts, I cried, “What? But if this doesn’t happen, the story stalls. The characters don’t learn and get their happily ever after!”
I politely got off the phone and went for a walk, thinking through the problem
What could happen if my characters didn’t get what I thought they needed? Was there a way to bring about that desired outcome that I hadn’t considered? I prayed over my dilemma.
Sometimes, we need to take the opposite view on a story thread. What if the thing we believe must happen in the story doesn’t or can’t happen?
After the initial despair washed through me, I was determined to prove it could happen, and I took a walk. As I strolled, I let my mind wander. I considered earlier happenings in the story. I re-evaluated the story’s ending. I thought through my characters’ journeys and what they needed to learn.
Sometimes when we’re stuck in a story conundrum, there are a few things we can do.
1. Talk story with a writing friend/mentor and gain their perspective on the problem. Sometimes, they may say something that spurs a solution in your mind.
2. View the problem from the opposite perspective. Turn it upside down and inside out. Then think on “What if this can’t happen? Then what?”
3. Pull a “Rachel Hauck” and keep asking “Why?” until you get to the core of the problem, or to the base of the character’s motivation, and make a decision from there.
4. Sometimes, we just need to let our minds ponder the problem while we work on other things. Or go for a walk. Or take a shower.
5. Be open to a different twist or result than what we planned. I know, for us plotters this is challenging. But, when we’re open to redirection, we may be delighted with a new twist that we never saw coming.
6. Most importantly, we should bring our dilemma to the Giver of all Stories and ask for His input.
As I walked in our fall-colored neighborhood, the air scented with fall leaves, I admired the fading colors around me . . . and the idea came. God showed me how to fix the problem. I couldn’t get back to my laptop fast enough to type out the thoughts.
And the story moved forward. Just like we do when we pause to reflect on the problem and the deeper motivations, both ours and our characters’. This enables us to stay faithful to the essence of our stories.
What helps you get unstuck when your story stymies you?
Award-winning aspiring novelist, Jeanne Takenaka, writes contemporary inspirational fiction that tackles real-life issues with a heart to draw women closer to God and those around them. She lives near the mountains in Colorado with her amazing husband and two exuberant boy-men. She loves being God’s girl—always learning about His grace, hanging out with friends and enjoying a great cup of coffee. When she’s not writing you can find her with a camera in her hand, looking for #alittlebitofpretty in her days. You can connect with her on her blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter.