A Beginning, A Middle and An End
Our new blog post on writing at BlogginginBlack.com
Recently we were at a signing event– it had been a long week, a long day and as usual, we had been asked, and answered tons of questions. Many of them the familiar, tried and true “How do you write a book together?” “Do you ever disagree?” “How did you get published?” At the end of the evening, a woman came up to us as we were gathering our belongings, preparing to leave. She’d already had her book signed and had obviously been gathering her courage and saw her moment about to slip away. So she came up to us and dove right in—head first. “What do you do when you get stuck?” was the question that came out in one rush of breath. She followed immediately with, “I started a book, but got stuck and I don’t know what to do next.”
Ahhh the old writer’s block question…we both nodded knowingly, sympathetically and took turns offering our usual suggestions. Read. Step away from the project for a while. Sing. Dance. Take a drive, a nap, a vacation. Because sometimes you just need to shake loose, look at the problem you’re dealing with from another perspective. In our experience, usually any or all of these tactics –and time, will unclog the blockage and send you back on the right story path.
She nodded but the uncertain looked remained. “But I’ve been stuck for two years!”
Wow! This was serious, so we probed further. At what point in her novel did she find herself, the story or the characters immobilized and unable to move on? Was it a plot or character problem? Did she think the point of view was off? The voice? The answer was “none of the above.”
To continue reading click here.
http://blogginginblack.com/?p=1517&am...
Recently we were at a signing event– it had been a long week, a long day and as usual, we had been asked, and answered tons of questions. Many of them the familiar, tried and true “How do you write a book together?” “Do you ever disagree?” “How did you get published?” At the end of the evening, a woman came up to us as we were gathering our belongings, preparing to leave. She’d already had her book signed and had obviously been gathering her courage and saw her moment about to slip away. So she came up to us and dove right in—head first. “What do you do when you get stuck?” was the question that came out in one rush of breath. She followed immediately with, “I started a book, but got stuck and I don’t know what to do next.”
Ahhh the old writer’s block question…we both nodded knowingly, sympathetically and took turns offering our usual suggestions. Read. Step away from the project for a while. Sing. Dance. Take a drive, a nap, a vacation. Because sometimes you just need to shake loose, look at the problem you’re dealing with from another perspective. In our experience, usually any or all of these tactics –and time, will unclog the blockage and send you back on the right story path.
She nodded but the uncertain looked remained. “But I’ve been stuck for two years!”
Wow! This was serious, so we probed further. At what point in her novel did she find herself, the story or the characters immobilized and unable to move on? Was it a plot or character problem? Did she think the point of view was off? The voice? The answer was “none of the above.”
To continue reading click here.
http://blogginginblack.com/?p=1517&am...
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