We all can hit a block sometimes. Maybe it’s a scene we can’t quite visualize, or a character who isn’t coming off the page as we had hoped they would. Maybe we just can’t figure out where it all goes next, or we’re struggling against our own motivations. It’s not a fun feeling, and the frustration that comes with this can often cause us to become even more blocked.
There’s a lot of advice out there, from powering through to schedules to certain exercises. But sometimes it comes down to remembering what it’s like to enjoy the process of writing and have fun with it.
Introducing something extreme or random to your character’s life or world—just for fun—can help you to get out of a block or rut.
How so?
When you allow your mind to work on writing a scene that is no-risk (something that likely won’t make it into the actual draft), you can lower any subconscious resistance you may be experiencing.
Throwing a random conflict or change into the story also forces you to think about your characters, world, and events from a fresh angle.
Writing Exercise: Shake it Up
Again, this exercise is for you: not for the draft.
Free yourself from the idea that it has to fit into the rest of what you’ve written or want to write. Get creative—and even a little absurd.
Here are some examples of how you can surprise your mind into wanting to create again:
Mess with your characters.
- Have your hero find themselves entered into a rodeo or a baking competition.
- Give them a surprise invite to the Met Gala or a secret society—and make them go.
- Have a runaway train headed for their grandmother’s living room.
Play with your world.
Change the stakes or swap something ordinary with something weird or magical.
- Imagine the building in which a key scene takes place is now collapsing.
- Cars can fly.
- Everyone wakes up and computers and cell phones no longer work.
Change up the narration.
- Swap points of view.
- Try writing a scene as though it were being told through a newspaper article—or a character-limited social media post.
- Tell us through the villain’s diary—or a phone call with their mom.
Key takeaways?
A shock to the system—or letting ourselves just have some fun on the page—can be exactly what we need to get ourselves over a block or rut.
Your turn
Do you have a go-to exercise or solve when you hit a block in your story?
Share and help your fellow writers!