It’s not just first-time writers that get stuck. Every writer, except Stephen King, experiences writer’s block.
Writer’s block is often an absence of information.
The information can be related to character or theme, though the writer usually thinks the “stuckness” is related to plot. It isn’t.
Plot arises from character, and characters are in service to our theme or central dilemma.
By exploring the dilemma that your characters are struggling with (and they are all struggling with an aspect of the same dilemma — because the purpose of story is to resolve a theme), conflicts will naturally arise and present you with situations that you might not have otherwise considered.
Overcoming writer’s block can be difficult. The challenge for authors is in understanding that our idea of our story is not the whole story.
By exploring the dilemma, we’ll begin to explore new ways of seeing the “apparent problem.” We’ll begin to see our story in a more dynamic way.
Jerry Jenkins, a New York Times bestselling author, has a fantastic guide on “How to Overcome Writer’s Block Once and for All.” Check it out here: https://jerryjenkins.com/writers-block/.
Learn more about marrying the wildness of your imagination to the rigor of structure in The 90-Day Novel, The 90-Day Memoir, or The 90-Day Screenplay workshops.
