jennasmueller

[jennasmueller]

Hey! Do you have any tips for people who've reached a block in their writing? I've been trying to plan out a plot for my book, but I've reached a point where I can't think of anything else

What to Do If You Get Stuck While Outlining Your Plot

Hi! Thanks for writing. Getting blocked can happen at all stages: Before writing, during writing, during outlining, in the idea stage, etc. But since you specifically said you’re reaching a block in your plot planning, I’ll address that :)

#1 Make sure your character’s motivation & conflict are “big” enough

If your character doesn’t have a book-length problem, you can get stuck trying to fill in empty space in the plot. In order to find more events to flesh out your story, you may need to make adjustments. Is their desire strong enough to fuel a book? Is the conflict big enough? Is their problem difficult to solve? If not, how can you make their problem harder? Or take longer to resolve?

You might need a combination of a fiercer desire, a bigger problem, more problems, more obstacles, and/ or a more stubborn antagonist to reveal potential scenes and events. For help with your character’s motivation and conflict, check out the PDF “Creating Character Arcs” in my Free Resource Library.

#2 Plot your story backwards

This can help you make sure you have a strong enough ending and open up new possibilities you might not have noticed while plotting forward. I have a post about it here.

#3 Use the but/therefore method

The but/therefore method is a great way to fill holes. It tests the cause-effect connections between your plot and character and almost always reveals gaps that need to be addressed with new or stronger scenes. Use this template for each scene or chapter:

Main character wants ______, but _______, therefore ______.

What comes after “wants” is the motivation for that chapter or scene. After “but” goes the conflict or obstacle. After “therefore” is the result or action the character takes, which leads into the next goal, and so on, and so on.

Chapter-by-chapter it might look something like this:

Chapter 1: Julian wants to ask Matt to the dance, but he’s scared of being rejected, therefore he slips a cryptic note into Matt’s locker.

Chapter 2: Matt doesn’t see the note. Now Julian wants to get into his locker and retrieve it, but the principal sees him trying to jimmy open the lock, therefore Julian is given detention for a week.

You can also do this scene-by-scene. My suggestion would be to start with the chapter outline, see what it reveals, then move into the scenes if you still feel stuck.

#4 Ask questions

Classic un-sticking questions start with “what if” or “why”? Asking questions can unlock new story directions you might not have noticed were there before.

What if the main character’s ex-boyfriend came back to town? What if they didn’t achieve that small goal back in chapter 4? What if they were hiding something? etc.

Why are they avoiding their sister? Why is it so difficult for them to apologize? Why haven’t they quit their job if they hate it so much? etc.

#5 Consider creating a subplot (or two or three)

A book-length story usually needs a few side stories to flesh out the main one. Look for areas of your story that could be expanded, characters that might take the story down a related tangent, and conflicts that seem small but could be bigger with some digging.

#6 Take a break

Sometimes, you just need to give it a rest. Walk away from your outline for at least a week. When you come back, you may see things you didn’t see before and be able to breathe new life into it. In the meantime, let your mind wander. It’s amazing what creative solutions writers can come up with when they aren’t “trying.”

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The Literary Architect is a writing advice blog run by me, Bucket Siler. For more writing help, check out my Free Resource Library, peruse my post guide, or hire me to edit your novel or short story. xoxo

[jennasmueller]

Some words to use when writing things:

winking

clenching

pulsing

fluttering

contracting

twitching

sucking

quivering

pulsating

throbbing

beating

thumping

thudding

pounding

humming

palpitate

vibrate

grinding

crushing

hammering

lashing

knocking

driving

thrusting

pushing

force

injecting

filling

dilate

stretching

lingering

expanding

bouncing

reaming

elongate

enlarge

unfolding

yielding

sternly

firmly

tightly 

harshly

thoroughly

consistently

precision

accuracy

carefully

demanding

strictly

restriction

meticulously

scrupulously

rigorously

rim

edge

lip

circle

band

encircling

enclosing

surrounding

piercing

curl

lock

twist

coil

spiral

whorl

dip

wet

soak

madly

wildly

noisily

rowdily

rambunctiously

decadent

degenerate

immoral

indulgent

accept

take

invite

nook

indentation

niche

depression

indent

depress

delay

tossing

writhing

flailing

squirming

rolling

wriggling

wiggling

thrashing

struggling

grappling

striving

straining

[jennasmueller]

s/o to the airport security lady who found out who spiderman was and minded her business

[jennasmueller]

peter: wow i saved everyones lives, stopped the bad guys and ended up getting the girl i like! im so happy!

mysterio, from beyond the grave

[jennasmueller]

Tom Holland: Spiderman can be gay

Marvel/Sony:

[jennasmueller]

reblog or “♡” if you save.

[jennasmueller]

under the cut you will find 25 gifs of alisha boe in 68 kill. all of these gifs are made by ME. please don’t repost in other gif hunts without my permission. please don’t edit or redistribute in any way. i would highly appreciate it if you like or reblog this post.

Keep reading

[jennasmueller]

Me:

[jennasmueller]

i got a theory from bandstand but it’s just corey cott’s laugh after he says “surmount”

[jennasmueller]

iconic steven grant rogers moments that made my theater absolutely lose their shit:

• “hail hydra”

• “i could do this all day-” “yeah, i know”

• “that is america’s ass”

• him being able to hold mjölnir and then kicking thanos’ ass with it

• “avengers….assemble”

in short: he owned this movie and i will not tolerate any steve rogers slander from this point out

[jennasmueller]

First avengers Steve, young and hopeful and patriotic: “I can do this all day-”

Endgame Steve, who HAS been doing this all day, every day, for the past 10 years: “Yeah I know.”

[jennasmueller]

christian borle hitting me in the face with a shovel until it breaks and i die

[jennasmueller]

upon falling into the falsettos hole, i noticed that further into the revival run they changed marvin’s hair and cordelia’s wig quite dramatically.

i feel like the hair was changed as the actors developed the characters more? maybe to reflect the characters personalities? cordelia is a very quirky character the way she was played by betsy, and i think the short curly hair reflects that much better than the longer. also the more wild, natural hair fits christians portrayal of marvin too.

i could be completely wrong, what do y’all think??

[jennasmueller]

as a procrastinating overachiever i feel like i don’t necessarily “half-ass” things, it’s more like a “3/4 ass”. like overall did i do pretty well? yeah. did i reach my maximum potential though? i think the fuck Not.

[jennasmueller]

anthony rapp and jordan fisher ended racism probably

[jennasmueller]

jordan fisher and brennin hunt? we HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO STAN.

[jennasmueller]

“You realize that I just flew 3000 miles to keep you from getting killed?” Megan Fox as Mikaela Banes in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)