Unstuck

This blog series, Unstuck, explores some of the ways fiction writers find themselves stuck, and offers tips from successful writers for getting unstuck. 

Unstuck is a six-month series published the first Monday of the month.

As a young child, much to my parents’ dismay, I loved to write on wallpaper. I tried to write in small letters so they wouldn’t see it (they always did), and once I signed my sister’s name hoping to fool them into thinking she was the culprit (they figured it out). Clearly my desire to write began at an early age.

But the course of true love never runs smoothly, as they say. My relationship to my writing has at times been as complicated as any prickly romance. I can be in the middle of a project and suddenly I’m stymied, unsure how to proceed, and I find myself wondering whether I should abandon the whole enterprise. 

Every writer goes through this. It’s annoying and anxiety-producing, but it doesn’t have to spell death of your manuscript (or you as a writer). As Ray Bradbury famously said: “Writer’s block is just a warning that you’re doing the wrong thing.” 

In other words, you can think of being stuck as an alert rather than a prison wall. Something isn’t working, but chances are you can fix it. 

There are about as many ways to be stuck as there are plot twists in a great whodunit. One of the most common is getting stuck right at the beginning. I can’t tell you how many times writers and would-be writers have said to me, “I have an idea for a story but I can’t seem to start!” 

As a matter of fact, I’ve said it myself.

Stuck Trying to Find Your Way In

It doesn’t matter if it’s your first novel or your fortieth; beginnings are hard. I’ve heard Lily King say she can’t really get going until she knows the very first sentence because for her that sets the tone for the rest of the story. My college writing professor couldn’t start until he knew the last sentence. Ironically, it was that last sentence that provided the key to his story’s front door.

In addition to introducing your story, as you write your first page you’re also looking for your own inspiration—words that will give you enough energy and excitement to keep writing. Does the beginning ask a question? Present a problem? Make an unusual statement about the world, the character, or the story that begs clarification? You might find that you yourself are intrigued by what you’ve written—if you can find the right words!

Audition First Sentences

When I’m looking for a way into a new story, I usually find myself trying out lines in my head like an actress waiting for her improv scene to begin. Something sounds pretty good and I write it down, and then wait for the next line to emerge . . . if it doesn’t, then back to my head I go to search for a different opening line.

Author Rhys Bowen toys with an entire opening paragraph in her head before she dives into her book. She wants to grab the reader and provide the tone of what is to come. In her novel The Tuscan Child she hit on the perfect one-two punch: “He was going to die. That was obvious.” 

Be a Thief

But what if your opening sentence won’t open the story? What if it doesn’t inspire you; what if it doesn’t lead you to the next sentence, and the next? You start again and again but you can’t seem to come up with that magical formula.

Here’s the dirty secret: you don’t have to dream up the first sentence yourself. I am often inspired by something someone else has said.

When I was trying to find my way into a mystery I wanted to write, a friend of mine said to me over coffee, “After my divorce I began to buy lingerie.” Suddenly I had my opening line (plus a fun character trait to exploit). 

The world is full of amazing lines; you can steal one. The trick is to pay attention and be willing to pounce. (Carry writing materials with you wherever you go!)

Explore

There are other times when you might think you’re struggling, but what you are really doing is exploring. Amy Belding Brown writes that it can take her a long time to find her way into a new book, but she doesn’t see this as problematic—it’s part of her process. 

The first chapter must establish the world and introduce the major character and it should also quickly move the reader into the story. For me, the beginning is usually where I first put my protagonist into a scene. No matter what ideas I have about her ahead of time, it’s through actually writing scenes in which she talks and acts that I discover who she is. So those early explorations are a crucial part of forming her character.  My first attempts are exploratory and often tentative. So I inevitably go back and start again. I write many, many beginnings before I’m satisfied. Sometimes it takes weeks of experimenting and revising before I feel good enough about what I’ve got to go on. 

I also learn more about my character as I write about her, and she always comes out on paper a little differently than how I originally envisioned her. To me that’s exciting, and it keeps me eager to write. Like the reader, I want to find out how this character changes! 

Write the Last Page

This is another “Exploration” technique, like the above; write the ending and see what comes out. Think of it as an exercise. You might find something there that sparks a beginning. 

Alternatively, cast your mind to the theoretical midpoint of the book, and write a scene where the story changes. This can help you see what you’re driving toward, at least initially. What do you need to set up? How can you do that creatively?

Write Ten First Pages, Quickly

I was once in a writing group where a writer was stuck trying to start his novel and he decided to write ten different beginnings. Then he put them away for a week. When he re-read them, one stood out. Voila! He found his beginning.

Persist

You might not write the “first” sentence for several chapters. I’ve done that. But it’s not wasted time—it’s creative play. 

It helps me to remember that with every project I re-write the first scene about a million times. In her book Steering the Craft Ursula LeGuin states: “The chief duty of a narrative sentence is to lead to the next sentence—to keep the story going.” The first sentence must do that, plain and simple. Try not to overthink it; when it’s right it will feel right.

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Martha Conway is the author of the forthcoming novel The Physician’s Daughter. Her previous novels include The Underground River and Thieving Forest.

https://marthaconway.com/

follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/marthamconway

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Amy Belding Brown is the bestselling author of Emily’s House and The Flight of the Sparrow.

https://amybeldingbrown.net/

follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/AmyBeldingBrown

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Rhys Bowen is the New York Times bestselling author of the Royal Spyness and Molly Murphy historical mysteries and several internationally bestselling stand-alone novels, including The Venice Sketchbook.

https://rhysbowen.com/

follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/Rhysbowen

 

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: How To and Tips