It can have a multitude of legitimate reasons ranging from exhaustion to other story ideas interfering, to not knowing how to fix a mistake prior to the scene you’re working on. You may feel a lot of weight writing the upcoming parts which can be debilitating to the point where you want to quit. You lost hope and enjoyment, ideas are running out. But when you do abandon it— same thing happens with plan B, back to square one. It sucks. There is no foolproof best practice, but loopholes. Writer’s block often indicates you have not yet dug up the creative mover shaker potential of the story. These 3 points can help you unearth it.
a) setting
Remember: Authors are architects. If you have a novel room or landscape up your sleeve, there’s plenty of exploration possible. Play that card. Where you need a clever excuse is how you can suddenly change settings. Sometimes, it’s not possible in the first place. But there are a few things you can do instead of wrapping up or postponing scenes further. Characters can refer to a new setting. It can show up painted, on a screen, and the like. In other words: Simply expand literal horizons of the characters. Show off your universe. It’ll remind you how proud of it you can be, that there’s a reason why the story deserves to be completed. If you enjoy this method, you can be sure that your fic: Is meant to be finished.
If you can tie things together again later on, inserting a parallel scene is an equally stimulating idea that will divert your frustrations with the plot bit that made you stop writing. The new events will make the former bit appear in a vastly different light (!) which is the biggest feat of this technique. It’s always good to keep in mind how settings carry plot and warp scenes to your favor, all while making your world-building well-rounded. You might even get a cliffhanger out of said parallel scene. Win-win. Introduce a setting and you’re good to go again, that is the simplest loophole to use.
b) character
Skip this section if you storyboard characters in advance, this loophole is not for planners. Now, if you do write more freely, delving into the making of a new character will do the trick. Introducing another odd personality element is some grand fun and provides the best twist you can think of. The story will start rolling again as your existing characters will interact with the new person, that sure as hell will be interesting to see. If you write a troublemaker to upset a dynamic, this is a surefire way to kindle your productivity. Especially in romance: Test your couple, bring in disharmony from the outside to see if they can deal with it on the inside. Sometimes, it’s a little break from your protagonists that powers good synergy. Tip: Especially a villain contradicting the theme of the protagonist will you motivation. There’s a reason why the Joker is infamous, he symbolizes mayhem while Batman wants order. Write the shadow of what you’ve had so far, go 180° and all out with the baddie.
c) conflict
Talk about villains: If the part where you ceased to write does not have even a slight element of crisis — that’s where the root issue is. Crisis is your hammer, writing is the nail. It won’t stick or be of any use if your sledge is missing. Fuel conflict of interests between or within characters so the need for a solution becomes so urgent. It’ll make you obsessed about making chapters again since you yourself want to get there. It’s counterintuitive to escape the frustration of writer’s block, but this is how: Conflict creates discontent creates plot. Crisis also makes your dialogue level up since characters reveal a lot more characteristics under pressure, all while being emotionally charged. Now you got a hammer.
