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We’ve all been there and the silent (yet horrific noise) of that moment is absolutely deafening. Or maybe its just the sound of your heart pounding in your ears as you begin to panic out of sheer, utter, terrible frustration. Whatever the sound it makes, its a biggy, and its the epitome of the writer’s nightmare. We don’t think of these moments when we decide writing is the most awesomeness thing (by 1000% mind you) in the whole fricken world. No, when we finally realize we’re writers and decide to truly start taking this business seriously, that’s when we’re cruising along without a care in the world; when the story feels like it’s literally writing itself. Problem is, that’s not usually how writing works. Yes, that moment usually occurs at one point or another, but, most of the time, we’re just hacking away at it, and, even worse, every now and again, we get stuck in a wall. And it does seem to be we usually spend equal amounts of stuck as we do cruising with every book we will ever write. But maybe that’s the only real saving grace here: remember you will probably get an equal amount of fun cruising time too.

So, how do we deal with getting unstuck without ripping all of our hair out? Actually this is a moment that often reminds me of computer problems. It takes eight hours to figure out the fix that actually only takes about 8 minutes to apply. This is similar to writing. The problem is, unlike computer problems where the fix is absolute and something that could be figured out instantly, getting unstuck is often as much about your state of mind as it is an actual problem.

First thing is first: Get the hell away from it for a little while.

Second thing: Determine whether or not you’re not just stuck on trying to find that one perfect word idiocy. Its easy to do, sometimes you just need to skip the scene and move on to the next before you can perfect this one and figure out that one little word.

Third thing: Is it you? Seriously now, if your outline is solid, if you know where you’re going, it could just be you needing a break. I’ll say it again: get the hell away from it for a little while because this is not a legitimate stuck, you might just need some time to let your mind catch up to the story if you’ve been working on it a lot.

Fourth thing: You have a real problem. Your plot is going one way and its right the frick outta your outline and would cause drastic changes throughout the chapters you’ve already written. Sorry, Honey, no easy way around this. My recommendation? Keep writing, let the plot take you, don’t you dare stop inspiration by trying to force your story into your outline. Sometimes they run and, in my experience, that is always a good thing accept that it generally causes a huge amount of more work for you.

Fifth thing: You’re actually stuck on how to describe a scene. You’re even having trouble deciding who should be the main character in it. This is classic and this is a problem that has happened to a million writers before you. The only real solution I’ve found? Write them all and then decide which one works best, you may even have to have someone else read each version to help you decide (often your readers in this case will choose a version you never would have chosen, let alone written, it can be very eye opening). Do something wild to get your head opened up, write the scene from an inanimate objects point of view, I wonder what that plant thinks of your lead character prancing around drunk as can be?

The most important thing to remember is this: Have some confidence. Before you start any kind of large project (where stuckedness is very possible) get all of your ducks in a row, know your characters and know where you book is going to end and get that outline written!