Real time writer’s log, April 23, 2021: I’m stuck.

😐

Stalled, really, and I can’t figure out why. So I’m writing a post about it because none of my other tricks have worked, and sure, I could be actively trying to figure it out by doing actual writing/editing in Scrivener, but right now, it just seems easier to complain about it here. 

This has happened before, and it’s usually a particular scene that just doesn’t want to be written. It’s not working, not coming together like it should be. Most of the time, I’ve been able to figure out what the issue is—maybe it’s the wrong POV or the wrong setting, or just the wrong chain of events altogether. So I start brainstorming tweaks, and suddenly the floodgates open, and we’re on our merry way once again. Not so much this time. At least, not yet.

Part of the problem is that I have specific intentions for the emotional tone I want for this scene, but I can’t clearly see the path to that tone. The setting is as much of a problem as it isn’t, if that makes any sense. I can see it clearly in my head, but it’s a new one to the book and purely fictional (SPOILER ALERT: It’s Tartarus. Obviously, nobody’s really been there, so I get to make it up as I go along.) Maybe part of my apprehension is the challenge of describing it as clearly as I see it.

The other part is that I know exactly what I want this scene to accomplish, but I’m waffling about what actions should take place and in what order. All these things are just floating around in the blurry orb of the scene, and I can’t get them to settle and focus.

Honestly, the only trick I have up my sleeve for getting unstuck is to get out my notebook and pen (we’re tactile/kinesthetic learners over here) and start writing in a stream-of-consciousness kind of way until something breaks loose. 

Do y’all have any tricks for getting unstuck? I’d be VERY interested to hear them.

Also, I’m taking comfort and hope in the fact that nobody ever finds cat skeletons in the tops of trees, which means that getting unstuck is inevitable. Right?

🤞😬