When A Writer Can’t Write

Ten top tips for getting unstuck

I was at that point in my novel where I felt a little stuck. Act 1 was complete and I now had to move onto Act 11.

I knew what goes into the next part, I just couldn’t write it.

What was that about? I guess I felt a little like I was leaving behind an old beloved friend, the way my characters are leaving their home of twenty years. Here are some of the techniques I used to move past the stuckness.

In her book The Writing Life, novelist Annie Dillard shares the true story about a young Native American woman and her child, the only survivors when their entire tribe dies of starvation,

Taking leave of her home and the dead, the woman and child go in search of a river. The woman has a fish hook but no bait. Then her child, hungry, begins to cry.

Having no choice, the young woman cuts a small piece of skin from her thigh and uses that as bait. She catches a fish, feeds her child and then herself. After this, she has fish guts for future bait. She is able to feed herself and her child and they survive through the winter.

As writers, we have to be like that woman. It doesn’t matter how dry of ideas we feel, we just have to find a way to get words onto the page.

Strategies that can move our writing on

1. Just write — anything.

One way is just to keep your hand moving across the page, or across the keys of your typewriter (laptop or computer.) Even if all you can write is the same line over and over: eg. I do not know what to write right now, I don’t know what to write right now. Keep writing until an idea comes. And it will.

2. Create a ‘washing line’

If you think of your story as a washing line and characters or topics like wet washing then you just peg those onto the line like clothes as you need to. Play around; write out character sheets. Invent whole histories or herstories. Backstories or subtexts are sometimes just as interesting as the main story.

3. Develop characters in the story

You need to show how your MC learns or is informed; they need a mentor or nemesis. In my novel, the main character’s mentor is her older sister. Whenever the MC gets stuck, has a dilemma, or needs to make a decision, her sister offers ideas. Sometimes the MC takes these, sometimes not. But whichever, it helps to move her — and the novel on.

4. Brainstorm

If you’re writing a short story or poem, the old fashioned brainstorming technique cannot be beaten. Write down your topic or subject, then write all the words you associate with them. Pick at least three, but no more than five, and unpack these with research until you have enough for your creative piece.

5. Find a routine that works for you

And once you do, stick to it like glue. One of my favorite authors, Maya Angelou, would rent a hotel room when she was writing. There she’d go every morning, arriving for 6 or 6:30 am, write until 12;30 or 1;30 pm, then check out. The room would be empty save for a bed, desk, and chair (which she didn’t use). The desk held nothing but a legal pad and pencils, and she wrote longhand laying on the bed. No distractions. We needn’t be so austere, but whatever works for you, do that thing.

6. Walk, swim, shower, move.

The repetitiveness of action can help the flow of thoughts and ideas. As taking notes in the shower or while swimming is impossible, I prefer walking. I like to use my phone as a recorder to capture ideas and I’ve sometimes got down whole pages of dialogue on half- or hour-long walk.

Ideas often need a gestation period or a time of growth before we can go on or complete a creative piece.

7. Join or create a group of writers

I learned the hard way that I am not a solitary writer. Well, I am, in that, I write alone. But I also need other people to read my work and give me feedback. That’s the method I got used to when I undertook my Novel Writing MA, and now I’m addicted. I am one of a small group of three writers; and every week, we go through one writer’s latest pages. Knowing I have to send work to my two peers spurs me on, often last-minute, to meet my deadlines. It works for me.

8. Journal

I have kept a journal, in longhand, for over twenty years. I swear by Julia Cameron’s morning pages (from The Artist’s Way.) But any form of journaling that you can maintain is good enough. I rarely read back my journals; if I write something I find insightful, or that I may need later, I underline it in another color ink and copy it to my diary or calendar when I finish journalling that day.

9. Read.

It’s important to take proper breaks from the writing, and what better break than to read others’ work? Julia Cameron calls it ‘filling the well.’ We can’t expect to produce creatively day in, day out, without putting something back in. Read anything. I usually have one or two audio books on the go, as well as a fiction and non-fiction book by my bedside. When the weather permits, I sit outside and I read for half an hour or so. It’s always rejuvenating.

10. Gestate

Finally, let it be OK to be ‘stuck’ some of the time. Ideas often need a gestation period or a time of growth before we can go on or complete a creative piece. Use the time to doodle, draw, or indulge in other creative activities; these can all help the process of writing. Just don’t let your gestation periods last too long; it’s writing, not pregnancy.

Sources:

• Dillard, A: The Writing Life
• Cameron, J: The Artist’s Way
• Business Insider: May 28th, 2014

Note: The above are non-affiliate links

©️marla bishop 2020

Marla Bishop is a relationship coach and writer: On medium.com she writes for several publications including Illumination, The Writing Cooperative, PS: ILY, and The Ascent. She is the creator of Lilith and an editor for The Bad Influence, The Get Fit Gang, and The Narrative. She lives in London UK with her husband and youngest two children. You can follow her here.