Writer's Block

I believe that writer's block is a matter of fear and trust: fear of trusting the frontmost words in your mind and putting them to paper, fear of mediocrity, fear of failure, distrust of your ability. Trust whatever your muse gives you. Trust yourself & your ability. Trust the first thing in your head.

​This is what I do:

• Determine where you want the immediate plot to go

This is not a full-plot decision; this is merely to figure out what needs to happen right now, independent of your characters, but you may need to work backwards from the full-plot destination.

If the end of your story results in your characters discovering the lost continent of Atlantis, then how are they going to find Atlantis? A mystical method of navigation--a magic compass. Okay, they need a magic compass. Let's take them to go find that magic compass. That's where the immediate plot needs to go. They'll need a boat to get there, but we'll worry about that in another chapter.

• Determine what the characters need to do to get there

Where is this magic compass? Well, the characters obviously don't know. So they will have to find someone that does. But they're not going to know any people with specific knowledge--there is no "Master of the Magic Compass." So they will have to go to someone with general knowledge.

Maybe the king's cartographer or grand vizier will know, or perhaps the creepy old hermit that lives in the forest outside of town, everybody says he knows magic, so he might know about things of a magical nature. We'll say it's the hermit.

• Look for the most cinematic moment to begin that journey with

The hermit lives outside of town, right? Maybe the characters aren't aware of him. So you could begin the chapter in the local tavern. The characters go there to find someone that can give them a lead on where to find someone with magical knowledge. The bartender probably knows, or at least will know who to ask.

• Determine the most poetic & compelling way to create that moment

It'd be boring to start the chapter with the characters walking into the tavern, wouldn't it? How would a TV show or a movie do it? They might start with a shot of the wood-grain surface of the tavern's bar, the bartender's hand wiping it with a rag. A handful of gold coins clatter onto the screen. We look up--it's your main character. By beginning the chapter with a focus on the bar, we can establish the setting without having to drop a load of scene-setting right off the bat. If necessary, we can subtly pepper the rest of the scene with a few other details about the setting.

A HANDFUL OF GOLD coins clatter across the bar. Caught in the act of polishing the bartop with a rag, the bartender looks up from them, a bit startled. "Well, uhh, hello there. Welcome to--"

"I'd like to ask you a few questions," growls Character.

The bartender smiles. "Questions are free," he says, pouring a tap into one of his frosty mugs. He's a bit shouty, because the tavern is a bacchanalia of singing, stomping, laughing. "A sample of our finest ale, that'll cost you." He plunks the mug down on the bar and slides a few of the coins into his apron.

• Begin the chapter

Once the scene / chapter is begun, let the characters in your head do what they will. Let them lead you toward the immediate destination you provided in the first step. You can always clarify and streamline in the edit.

Remember, you're not working toward the end of the story. You're working toward the next step of the story. Eat this big ol' story sandwich one bite at a time.