Hannah Currie
Depends on the situation :)
If it’s because my brain is too tired and has well and truly shut down for the day, I close my computer and give the writing a break. Otherwise I just start deleting perfectly good writing because I’m grumpy. Ha! I’ll do something completely different like play Lego with my kids, watch a movie, go outside, or do one of the million other things on my to-do list.
If it’s because I’m creatively drained or feeling stuck on how to solve a plot point, I’ll often take a break and read a fiction book. Whether it is in the same genre as I’m writing or not, for some reason, I always seem to be inspired again to write. It’s like, in reading and enjoying a book, I’m reminded again of the joy of story and the difference it can make in a person’s life.
If I’m on a deadline or need/want to reach a particular word count and have no excuse to stop writing apart from the fact that I’m bored, or don’t know where to go next, I skip the action beats and descriptions and go with straight dialogue. I love writing dialogue. It’s by far my favorite part of writing stories so comes fairly easily. I’m also a big fan of swapping to a different scene of the book if one in particular is giving me trouble. I’ll leave a note and come back to it later. I take the idea of “write what you know” very literally. If I don’t know what to write in one scene but do another, I’ll write the one I know.
If it’s because my brain is too tired and has well and truly shut down for the day, I close my computer and give the writing a break. Otherwise I just start deleting perfectly good writing because I’m grumpy. Ha! I’ll do something completely different like play Lego with my kids, watch a movie, go outside, or do one of the million other things on my to-do list.
If it’s because I’m creatively drained or feeling stuck on how to solve a plot point, I’ll often take a break and read a fiction book. Whether it is in the same genre as I’m writing or not, for some reason, I always seem to be inspired again to write. It’s like, in reading and enjoying a book, I’m reminded again of the joy of story and the difference it can make in a person’s life.
If I’m on a deadline or need/want to reach a particular word count and have no excuse to stop writing apart from the fact that I’m bored, or don’t know where to go next, I skip the action beats and descriptions and go with straight dialogue. I love writing dialogue. It’s by far my favorite part of writing stories so comes fairly easily. I’m also a big fan of swapping to a different scene of the book if one in particular is giving me trouble. I’ll leave a note and come back to it later. I take the idea of “write what you know” very literally. If I don’t know what to write in one scene but do another, I’ll write the one I know.
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