I've got characters, a setting, a story... some of you have seen at least the initial bits, maybe 5K of the ~42K words. I'm down to needing to write two scenes to wrap up Part One of my novel, which I'm considering publishing as a novella. It's complete in itself, and has a "what happens next?" ending; a clear lead-in to a sequel.
But here I am, stuck. Marko, depressed over the state of affairs and some events that occurred which were completely preventable if he'd been able to use his "special knowledge" to prevent them, has lost weight, is on the verge of alcoholism, and is retreating into himself. Celeste sees it, but doesn't know what to do. She's trying to put on a brave face, but is ready to confront him and try to pull him out of his pit of despair.
I'm struggling to write the scene, and I don't know why. I have experience here. I didn't allow myself to fall into drinking, but when the restaurant we owned was in the throes of death, I lost forty pounds (about twenty percent of my body weight), and was down to about a meal and a half per day and a few hours of sleep per night. My wife saw it, tried to do what she could, but the critical problems were outside of her control and we both knew it. My memory of what changed to bring me out of it is cloudy, and maybe that's blocking me from being able to get into writing this scene. Maybe, subconsciously, I'm reticent to open the box that has the solution in it.
Probably the best thing I can do is to stop thinking about it, to focus on things I can produce and wait for some inspiration to strike. Tough to do when the ending of this project is in sight.
We all have our own demons, writing and otherwise, but what I'd suggest here is to stop trying to write an entire perfect scene in advance. You can't do it. You have an idea but that idea is not a scene. Writing isn't dictation from your conscious mind -- it's not like you know in advance what the words will be. But things usually flow once you get started. I heard an author on NPR the other day saying that (paraphrasing) "when things are going well the book knows far more about what's going to be written than I do."
Try focusing some simple aspect of it, write that (as a draft, knowing you will fix it later) and build on that, let things flow as best they can. Maybe start with dialogue, perhaps Celeste's opening words. Something, anything, simple and concrete.
NathanRoets and J.D. Ray like this.
Thanks. That’s essentially what I’m trying to do; picture the scene, get a sense of... some part of it that will let me move forward. All I need is a seed. It’ll come to me eventually. Until then, I wait.
Don't wait too long. You need to water the seed.
I've hit a couple blocks like this before. If you're stuck, that's your brain telling you that something isn't quite right. Don't force out a scene if it doesn't feel right. What helps me most is to pull myself out of the details. Basically, you know generally what you want to happen, so, just sit down with some hot cocoa or lay silently in bed and go through "what ifs". Talk to the voices in your head! Even some completely random stuff like "What if he take a magical pill!". It has absolutely nothing to do with the story, but it'll spur your imagination. For you, more specifically, start with stuff like "What if Celeste isn't the one to pull him out of this?" or "What if he doesn't get out of this right now? In fact, what if something makes it even worse and now he has seriously hit the rock bottom beneath the rock bottom?" or even the cliché "What if, when all hope seems lost, a random hobo says something that inspires him?" Essentially, it all has the same result: He gets better. But exploring the most random paths he could take to reach that destination might help you figure out how exactly to proceed. This is one of those times where you want to just let your mind roam free.