Get Out of Your Novel Writing Rut

 I'm so sad this string of guest posts has come to a close. I've learned so much from our generous contributors. Thank you to each of you who offered your words. If you missed out, I'm planning another series for August. Got a writing post to share? You can send it ahead of time to dallenco[at]gmail[dot]com. Our last offering is from Krissy Brady at Keeping the Passion for Writing Alive. Definitely check out her site. She offers an amazing amount of resources for writers, from freelance advice, writing tools, links, and more. You won't be sorry for a stop over there.

Get Out of Your Novel Writing Rut by Krissy Brady

You've finally started the novel that has been buzzing around in your head for years. Chapter one, no problem. Chapter two flowed out of you like a waterfall. Chapter three was a challenge at first, but you carried yourself through the process like a champ. Chapter four... well, you've written Chapter Four at the top of the page... and that was two months ago.

You have finally admitted to yourself that you're stuck; unsure now of where this story is going to take you and your characters. Where do you go from here?

Step away from the screen. Disciplining yourself to meet deadlines is one thing, but pushing yourself to write is another. Sitting at your computer, fingers propped on the keys, hoping they will magically start creating your masterpiece for you isn't realistic, and certainly isn't the productive way to go. Plus, the potential frustration this brings will spill into your future writing endeavours, conditioning yourself to feel a sense of dread as soon as you sit down to write (and last I checked, we started writing to get away from these feelings in our life).

Figure out why you're feeling stuck. Stepping away from the computer does not mean that you are procrastinating or putting off your writing goals—it will have the opposite effect, giving you the space necessary to figure out why you're stuck. A novel is a deep and lengthy project, one that takes a lot of time and planning, and sometimes we need to restructure our plans to get back on track.

Maybe you know where you want your main character to be by the end of the story, but are unsure of how your character is going to get from Point A to Point B, all the way to Point Z. Maybe you know exactly how your character is going to get there, but are struggling to develop the characters around him/her to bring strength and relevance to your story. Maybe you're wondering if your setting suits the plot, or maybe the name of your character's significant other isn't quite right. What is causing you to detract from your writing could be the slightest little thing, and pinpointing your concerns will help to alleviate the strain so you can go back to focusing on the task at hand.

Read what you've written so far. One way to get back into the mindset that encouraged you to begin writing your novel, is to read what you have written so far. Familiarizing yourself with the current draft of what you've written will help you to reconnect with your characters, your story, and what you want to accomplish with it. Read it out loud too—it may help you to pick out certain parts of the story that need to be developed more, which in turn will help you figure out where the story will lead your characters next.

Declutter your desk, declutter your mind. Let's face it: writers are famous for thinking of great ideas at the most inconvenient times. Take all of your scrap papers, post-its, napkins, cell phone notes, and add them in point form to your manuscript. In consolidating your notes, you can take the point form ideas and plan where they will fit, ultimately helping you to form the shell of your next few chapters.

Create a flexible plot outline. To coincide with this idea, if you have yet to do so, create a plot outline for your novel, starting with the parts of the main plot you know are critical to the story, and then fill in the outline with the critical parts of the subplots and how you can realistically connect them. Keeping your outline generalized will give you the opportunity to mix-and-match your ideas as you go along, making it easier to enhance what you've currently written, and get rid of the ideas that no longer suit the direction you wish to go in.

I say "if you have yet to do so," because I'm hoping there are writers out there who began their novel, introduced their main characters, main plot, and subplots, and then wrote an outline for the rest of the novel to coincide with what was already written. I'm hoping, because this is what I did. The idea for my novel had been simmering in my mind for about three years before I actually sat down and began writing it, and once the introductory chapters were complete, I then wrote an outline for the rest of the novel to make sure all characters and plots would be developed according to my goals.

Outlines and planning are an important part of the writing process, but there is no one way to go about doing it. You have to find the method that works for you. This will take a lot of experimenting, but the outcome will be very rewarding.

Write what you know, then fill in the blanks. In an ideal world, we would write our novel in a chronological, organized fashion, but as in life, our creativity can surprise us with its spontaneity. Write the areas of your novel that you know are strong, and sound, and are able to stand on their own. The areas that you aren't ready to flesh out yet, you can place in point form around the sections of the plotline that are already fully formed, giving you a great starting off point, no matter the chapter.

These are just a few simple techniques to help you revive your novel writing mindframe.

What are your techniques for getting out of a creative rut?

Krissy Brady is a freelance writer located in Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada. If you have a writing-related question, would like to write a guest post, or have a content suggestion, e-mail Krissy at info@krissybrady.com. You can also follow Krissy through RSS, facebook, twitter, and LinkedIn for the latest writing-related information.