Not Writer’s Block but Story Block

Kate Flora: I have always insisted that I don’t suffer from writer’s block. Indeed, I often think that writer’s block is more of an excuse not to engage with the work, wrestle with the challenges, and find a way forward, than a genuine dilemma. But that’s for me. I understand that some people truly do get blocked.  I do, however, believe in story block, in those stories that sometimes refuse to be written. Usually there’s a way around this. Taking a walk, baking, cleaning out a closet, setting myself a difficult task in the garden. Anything, in short, that creates a break from staring at the screen and agonizing over what comes next. Frequently, when I’m done and return to the desk, I’ve found my way forward.

Not this time.

I expect this is a problem that the compulsive outliner does not suffer from, but I’m not sure.

 

Sometimes the path forward looks like this

Right now, I am 63K words into a book that will not flow. The kind of story that requires many of the words, paragraphs, and scenes to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to the page and forced to stay there. It’s odd, because I’m interested in the book. I want the story to go forward and I need to know what’s finally going to happen to solve the mystery of who killed Leo Furstenberg and whether it was the same person who later killed Elliot England, the headmaster of the prestigious Grimley School.

I’ve tried the usual tricks I described above, but how much blueberry cake can we eat? How many paths can I carve through the jungle of my garden? How many contemplative walks can I take? I’m reduced to reading illustrated cookbooks as the usual last resort dive into fiction isn’t working.

Years ago, I devised a method for outlining a book when you’re a writer who hates outlining, perhaps someone traumatized by having had to do too much of it in school. It’s having a conversation with yourself in which the questions and answers lead to a form of outline that may also lead to successfully finishing the book. The conversation usually begins with asking these questions:

What is this book about?

Who is this book about?

Who else needs to be in the book, and why?

Who was killed and what do we know about the crime scene?

How is that information going to be revealed, and by whom?

Who wanted that person dead and why? And what do we know about them, their character, their whereabouts, their motive, their opportunity to commit the crime?

Which of those people is the actual killer?

What are going to be the obstacles that keep the protagonist/detective from reaching a solution?

How will the protagonist overcome those obstacles and what strengths and abilities does he or she have that will let them solve the crime?

Will there be danger and how will it be overcome?

And then, once this form of outline is created (and it can be created at any point in the writing process) will it impel the writing forward?

Oh dear. Are writers supposed to give away our secrets? Are we allowed to confess to getting stuck or other weaknesses?

Fingers crossed that by writing this for MCW readers, I may have helped myself over the hump.

Do you have tricks or techniques to keep the books moving forward?

Don’t forget to visit me and Maureen Milliken at the Maine Book Fest this coming Saturday and Sunday in Waterville. There’s nothing like a park filled with writers.