By Cheryl St.John
In Do it Tomorrow and Other Secrets of Time Management, Mark Forster says, “I have
coached quite a few PhD students over the years. They often come to me because
they got stuck over writing their thesis. The first question I usually ask them
is, ‘How long since you last did any work on your thesis?’ The answer is
usually weeks ago, months ago or even in extreme cases years ago. I tell them
the reason they are stuck is they haven’t done anything, not the other way
around.”
Sometimes when we say
we’re stuck, we’re just not doing anything! We got to a point where we didn’t
know where to go and we stopped. We might have talked about our predicament. We
have certainly thought about it. But how many steps have we actually taken to
do something about it?
When you’re stalled out,
you have to do something. If your car stops, you don’t just sit there and think
about the problem. You don’t simply call a friend and tell him so he can
sympathize with you. No, you call either a tow truck or your husband/wife to
come get you–or you get out and walk. Maybe you even have to push the pile of
bolts out of the middle of the road. When your story stalls, either call a tow
truck and fork out for repairs or get out and walk. But do something. No matter
how big, how small, or how relevant to your story, do something. Then repeat that
or try something else the next day. Keep at it all the way, until you know
where you’re going again—even if that’s not until the last chapter or the last
page.
Sometimes getting
through the difficult middle chapters takes a lot of rusty or wooden writing
before anything-halfway golden takes shape. It ain’t the Mona Lisa, baby.
Nobody gets better at anything without practice or without screwing up numerous
times. The great news is: Crappy words on the page aren’t going to kill anyone.
Imagine what the Mona Lisa looked like when old Leonardo first sketched it on
the canvas. Suppose his internal critic thought, “Whoo-ee, this broad is u-gly.
I’ll never make her look the way I see her in my mind?”
It’s our pride and
vanity that doesn’t let us break loose and write freely. And sometimes
it’s laziness that doesn’t let us put words on paper.
So, you make up your
mind not to sit in that stalled car, and you jump-start it. I’m not a big fan
of exercises that don’t apply to my story or of writing many words that I’m not
going to use, but everyone is different, and sometimes something out of the
ordinary is what it takes.
* Write a short
biography of the characters.
* Write a monologue.
* Write a scene with
another character.
* Write dialogue that
reveals a secret.
* Go on a date with your
character and write the dialogue.
* Jump ahead and write a
scene that you do know.
* Watch a movie. Note
plot points and figure out why it worked for you.
* If books inspire you,
read a book.
Same principles as the
movie watching apply. Better yet if it’s a favorite book, and you already know
the scenes and dialogue inspires you and reach your emotions. Sometimes you
just need to be emotional to write. I’m not saying hormonal, God forbid, but
emotional. A story is feelings. Remember what these characters make you feel.
Remember the feelings you want to get across. Make notes. Jot down snips of
dialogue that occur to you.
* Make a list of words
while you’re at it. Grab a dictionary or a thesaurus or take notes during a
movie. Make a list of interesting words you’re going to use and work them into
your next scene.
Do whatever it takes to
move forward. Do something!
_______________________________________________________________________
Cheryl St.John is the
author of over fifty novels, both historical and contemporary, print and indie
published. Her stories have earned numerous RITA nominations, Romantic Times
awards and are published in over a dozen languages. One thing all reviewers and
readers agree on regarding Cheryl’s work is the degree of emotion and
believability. Words like ‘heart-warming, emotional depth, touches your soul,
tugs your heart, endearing characters and on my keeper shelf’ are commonly used
to describe her work. In 2015 her Webinar Blockbuster Fiction was
featured in the Writers Digest Novel & Short Story Writer's Market.
She has a chapter in Creating Characters, Writers Digest's 2015 release.
With a 4.9 star rating on amazon, Cheryl’s bestselling non-fiction book, Writing With Emotion, Tension & Conflict by Writers Digest Books is
available in print and digital. Cheryl is an avid movie buff, and Writing With Emotion, Tension & Conflict reflects that by using examples
from popular films to show examples of emotion and conflict. Her Social Media LINKS
are: email Cheryl at: SaintJohn@aol.com
Visit her on the web: http://www.cherylstjohn.net/ Read her blog: From the Heart: http://cherylstjohn.blogspot.com/ Like her Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/CherylStJ She's a
Pinterest junkie! http://pinterest.com/cheryl_stjohn/
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