Getting started is easy. For me, ideas are as abundant as clowns at a parade. I get them everywhere and in every form—a scrap of dialogue, an image of a character, an intriguing situation. Sometimes, an idea yields a paragraph or a full page before the thrill of it evaporates and my writing grinds to a halt. I have a premise—a situation—but all that follows is a huge, gaping so what? At this point, I stare at the page and wait for inspiration to return. I’ve heard of writers for whom the whole story just materializes out of thin air. I try not to hate those writers.

I’m great at and love beginnings. But, at the first sign of an inscrutable character, a boring storyline, or a snail-could-beat-it pace, I’m ready to quit as quickly as I began. 

Here are five tricks I use to restart, keep going, and not quit:

          1. Ask questions.

Ask your character what she wants, what’s preventing her from getting it, what she likes about where she lives, what she thinks of the waiter, what’s her favorite childhood memory, what she wanted to be when she grew up, why her father is so mean, what he’s afraid of, or what he’s most proud of? Ask the funny, the mundane, the critical. You don’t need to ask every question to every character though. What you’re really looking for is what interests you about the story, because that will help you decide where to go.  

After you pose a few questions and come up with a few answers, your questions will splinter and divide and you’ll keep thinking of more. I come back to my characters with questions throughout the process. (I don’t know about you, but I get stuck more than once when writing.) The questions you pose will be different for every story and every character. Although, if you practice this long enough, you’ll probably have your favorites: I ask every one of my characters what’s in their backpack or purse or pockets, for example.

          2. Write by hand.

Truly, there’s something about putting pen to paper that can unstick your creative writing. There’s some science behind neural pathways and the physicality of a pen, but, for me, the biggest reason writing by hand works is because it feels low stakes. I only ever use cheap notebooks or even scrap paper—though I have strong preferences when it comes to pens—to work out whatever problem I’m currently stuck on. 

I write until I’ve fleshed out my idea or when my hand gives up. I often write gibberish I can’t decipher. But somehow, just by changing up the medium, I start to see my work differently. If you can’t write by hand, try writing in a different location: outside instead of on the couch, or standing at the counter versus sitting at a desk. Try it; I swear by it.

          3. Read what you have out loud.

Or, better yet, have someone you trust read it out loud to you. Moving from the visual to the auditory can reveal what you’ve missed. Maybe a character moves in a particular way you hadn’t realized, or maybe there’s additional subtext that could be further explored. Similar to changing from typing to writing by hand, changing from seeing to hearing your story is a great way to reimagine the plot. If that won’t work for you, change the font or the font color. If you’re already using read-aloud software, change the voice. Then, you might be able to see or rather, hear what will happen next.

          4. Ask for feedback.

Ask for feedback from a writer or a reader who reads or writes in a genre or style analogous to yours. If you write romance novels, for instance, you may not want feedback from someone who only reads Stephen King. Feedback from too far afield can be useful when it comes time for serious revisions, but right now, when you’re only a little stuck, you’ll want the opinions of someone who knows enough about what you’re trying to do to raise the right questions for you to get back on track. (Yep, we’re back to questions again!) 

If they say something like: “I don’t understand why she doesn’t tell him she loves him,” now you’ve got something to write about.

          5. Start again.

This might seem counterintuitive, but sometimes I’m stuck on a scene I want to keep because I love it so much. Deep down, however, I know that scene is the roadblock preventing me from moving my story forward. Maybe it doesn’t make sense for the character, or maybe it doesn’t leave enough room for the plot, or maybe it belongs in another story altogether. 

If I’m struggling, I will probably move that scene around several times, tweak the details, and change the characters. If, after all that, and it’s still not working but I can’t bring myself to let the scene go, I close my document and promise to come back to it later. Then, I open a fresh document and start again. What usually happens is that I forget about my once beloved scene and, hopefully, start writing something even better.

Bonus:

          6. Check out PocketMFA.

PocketMFA students enter a diverse online environment of writers, matching with a mentor of their choice who is an expert in their craft and has numerous titles under their belt. By joining PocketMFA, you gain access to exclusive support, networking, and bi-annual writing residencies for a lifetime. 

Check out the writer quiz to see how PocketMFA can reignite your journey and commitment to the stories you’re meant to tell and share.