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Name a time you got stuck in a story…

Name a time you got stuck in a story while writing it. What was the issue you couldn’t resolve?

What unstuck you?

25 replies on “Name a time you got stuck in a story…”

I’m stuck right now, because I’ve realized I’m utterly confused about my MC’s personality and character arc. I thought if I wrote up a whole ton of backstory and motivation and had a general idea of her arc, that the character would “speak to me” while I wrote. But she keeps saying something else in each chapter! I keep thinking I’ve got it, but every time I try to grab hold, it morphs into something else.

No answer yet on how I’m getting out of it. The current plan is to finish the first full draft as well as possible and then step back and assess once I have all the mismatched pieces, and hope that some match better than others

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How are they traveling? Could be an oppty for a side story – i.e. on a plane they read a magazine/listen to a podcast; in the car they always play a road game/listen to some news thing… or stop at a specific ice cream shop and talk to some additional character that could add some umami to the story ? of course I have zero clue if that makes sense….

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Me too!
Big dramatic fantasy episode.
Someone is suddenly going to inadvertently show they have a power. Can’t decide whether they save the town from a pirate attack, transport themselves and two other characters out of danger, cause general panic, bring down a hailstorm, or……..errrrr…..do something else. Trying to avoid Cliché Central or appear as if I’ve hijacked bits out X-Men films.
(Oh woe!!)

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Yeh, could go any way too! I’m currently in a blazing angry mood. Just seen footage from the Euro soccer tournament (in France) of a crowd of drunk British males thrown missiles at three refugee kids
I’ll have to write this out, and maybe edit it, couldn’t say yet!
(Pardon my short-fuse temper)

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Subtle would be good. Mine is in a sort of Renaissance era so a few tweaks would have to be made…might have to re-write the whole episode…Oh well, what’s new?
Thanks
Roger

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My serial killer had so many victims, when it came time for my task force to examine all the evidence, I had to go back and re-introduce myself to all of his crimes, this time making notes of everything, places, times, hair color, clues, dates.

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Hey you handsome guy. I just want you to know, I connected with you over the writer air waves. A pleasure to know you. You are a bright light Dan. xoxox

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I’ve had plot holes that were tough to resolve. The tough part is resisting using some deus ex machina to fill the hole. You lose credibility when your protagonist develops some ability or some piece of technology miraculously appears to solve the dilemma.

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Allegedly. I’ve been accused of using deus ex machina. Can’t say I cared for it much. It’s like being called a cheater. I had cleverly had a friend readers thought was dead swoop in to help save the day. I’m sticking with it, too. It was clever, not cheating. It’s still clever. Screw the deus ex machina police.

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There’s a fine line, but I can see where that concept would work. If you believe in it, stay the course. I’m talking about blatant scenarios where your character is cornered and all of a sudden uses expert martial arts skills that they never had before or they pull a gun from a secret hiding place without any buildup or foreshadowing. Those kinds of things can insult your readers.

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Yeah. That’s why the accusation of deus ex machina – which I had to look up to even know what it meant – was so insulting. We’ll see. Sometimes authors get squeamish about what readers will like. But when it’s as you described, it’s just poor writing.

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