The Perils of Not Knowing What Happens Next in Your Story

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Getting stuck in your writing doesn't mean you've got writer's block.

At some point, we all hit a wall in our writing. We get stuck, we don't know what happens next, maybe we know where we need to go, but not sure how to get there.

Hitting a wall can freak us out and make us panic, because it feels a lot like writer's block. We get stuck and fear the words won't come anymore, and struggle to get anything down, and nothing works. But most of the time, we're not blocked at all--it's just our subconscious telling us we're missing something we need to move forward.

Next time you hit a writing wall, take a deep breath, step back, and diagnose what the problem might be:

1. Re-Examine Your Characters' Goals and Motivations

Most of the time a stalled plot stems from lack of the protagonist's goal or a reason to move forward with the goal you originally planned for. The plot says do X, but there's no way the protagonist would do that and your subconscious knows it. It's keeping you from writing a major plot hole into your story.

Try looking at your character's motivation. What do she want? What's at stake if she fails? Maybe she's lost sight of what she's trying to accomplish and that's making it hard to go forward. Perhaps her goal has changed and the outline needs to changes as well.

(Here's more on Goals-Motivations-Conflicts: The Engine That Keeps a Story Running)

2. Examine Your Characters' Backstory

Sometimes you can't move forward because you haven't laid the right foundation for whatever you have planned for the scene. It's not the scene itself that's the problem, but something about the character that isn't working. Maybe your protagonist needs a history that matches something he needs to do. Maybe he needs a past connection with another character or the situation. He might need a fear to provide stakes, or a shift in beliefs to offer more conflict.

Try adding more information to provide the missing needed to move your protagonist to the next step. Sometimes you can slip that backstory into the scene you're struggling with (often all it takes is a line or two--you don't need to write paragraphs of it), but it's just as likely that the problem lies in an earlier scene. Look for places where you can add the necessary backstory, trait, or skill before this scene, so that by the time your protagonist gets here, it's works as intended.

(Here's more on We Have a History: Making Backstory Work for You )

3. Look Where Your Plot Is Really Going

Your plot says you have to do X, but maybe that's no longer the right move for the story. This is especially true for those who outline every scene and know the plot before you start to write. You focus on sticking to the original scene and forget (or don't notice) that the story has shifted a little as you wrote it.

Try retracing your steps and see where in the story you went off of the outline. Maybe you need to adjust a plot point or change a set piece to make the scene work again. Or it might be as simple as ignoring what the outline says, and seeing where the plot has actually gone. Just rewrite the outline to match so it all tracks.

One note here...it's not a bad idea to look over your remaining outline at this point. If you've shifted from the original plan, odds are you'll run into other scenes that don't quite line up either. Take some time to revise your outline before you hit another wall.

(Here's more on Clarifying Thoughts: Revising Your Outlines to Make the Writing Easier)

4. Look Where the Story Has Been

Sometimes you hit a wall because you're boring yourself. You've started writing essentially the same scenes over and over and there's nothing new for you or readers to discover. It's also possible that there's something in the story that contradicts what you want to do next. You know it's not right, and your instincts are letting you move ahead until you fix it.

Try reviewing the manuscript from the start, looking for anything that might be keeping you from writing. Look for too-similar scenes, or scenes that would make what you want to do next unlikely, implausible, or just flat out wrong. It's not uncommon to have to revise what was to fix what's yet to come.

(Here's more on 6 Tips on Making Similar Scenes Feel Different)

5. Look Around 

It might not be the scene that's wrong, but the setting or the location in the story itself. Would the next scene work better if you moved it? Either the place in the story or the place in the book itself? Maybe it's out of place and would have more impact later in the story.

Try changing the setting, or moving the scene to another location. If the problem is in a conversation, sometimes moving that dialogue to another scene fixes it. It's just the wrong place to have it.

(Here's more on Creating Story Tension: Rooms with an Unexpected View)

6. Talk to Your Bad Guy

Have you been spending so much time on your protagonist that your antagonist's goals and motives are now weak and unbelievable? Maybe you need to shore up the villain's plan to get back on track. Perhaps she needs to step up her game and be a little smarter, or more villainous, or maybe you're not giving her enough time to plausibly react to what the protagonist does, so the plot is feeling contrived.

Try examining your antagonist's plan and what she's been doing all book. Make sure there are plausible reasons for her actions, and that what she does is the result of what the protagonist does (where applicable of course). Sometimes, we have the antagonist doing something when the only way she could possibly do it is if she was watching the protagonist 24/7 and was ready to act the instant the right moment appeared--which is usually not likely or plausible. Remember--cause and effect.

(Here's more on Being Evil: Plotting From the Antagonist's Perspective)

7. Sum Up What You're Doing

The less you plan a story, the more likely it is you're just not sure what to do next. Perhaps you've gone down a dead end storywise, or you've written that idea out as much as you can. It's not so much the scene that's the issue, but you need another brainstorming session to figure out the next chunk of the book.

Try sitting down with a blank page and just write out what you feel is supposed to happen. Describe it like you were telling a friend--no pressure, just casual. Sometimes writing it down before you "write" it down helps jar the sticky points loose. At the very least, it gives you the freedom to brainstorm and see how you can fix it.

(Here's more on How to Create an Editorial Map)

8. Just Do It (Or Not Do It)

When all else fails, grit your teeth and just write. Sure, odds are it'll suck, but you'll get through it, and then you can fix it later when you figure out what's wrong. Sometimes the only way to do that is to just dive in. It probably won't be as bad as you expect it to be, and you'll be able to revise once it's down.

Of course, sometimes you hit a wall on a scene because that scene doesn't need to be there. You can also try skipping that scene and writing the next.

(Here's more on Dancing Out of Tune: Writing Scenes Out of Sequence to Enliven—and Maybe Even Finish—Your Novel)

If the issues is just that you need to let the story simmer in your head a little, there are also some non-writing things you can do to get past the wall:

Take a break: Walk away from your writing for a bit and let your brain recharge. You've probably been struggling to plot or write and your frustration level is high. Go do something fun.

Read a favorite book: Reading great books is a terrific way to free your mind and get back into the writing groove.

Take a shower: There's something about hot water, washing my hair, and rubbing the brain that always seems to help. I can't tell you how many times I've figured out what to do while in the shower.

Hitting a wall is perfectly normal, so don't let it worry you. Just step back, take a breath, and find the way to climb over.

What do you do when you hit a wall?

Find out more about plot and story structure in my book, Fixing Your Plot & Story Structure Problems.

Go step-by-step through plot and story structure-related issues, such as wandering plots; a lack of scene structure; no goals, conflicts, or stakes; low tension; no hooks; and slow pacing. Learn how to analyze your draft, spot any problems or weak areas, and fix those problems.

With clear and easy-to-understand examples, Fixing Your Plot & Story Structure Problems offers five self-guided workshops that target the common issues that make readers stop reading. It will help you:

• Create unpredictable plots that keep readers guessing
• Find the right beginning and setup for your story
• Avoid the boggy, aimless middle
• Develop compelling hooks to build tension in every scene
• Craft strong goals, conflicts, and stakes to grab readers
• Determine the best pacing and narrative drive for your story

Fixing Your Plot & Story Structure Problems starts every workshop with an analysis to pinpoint problem areas and offers multiple revision options in each area. You choose the options that best fit your writing process. It's an easy-to-follow guide to crafting gripping plots and novels that are impossible to put down.

Available in paperback and ebook formats.

Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, including The Shifter, Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. The Shifter, was chosen for the 2014 list of "Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read" from the Georgia Center for the Book.

She also writes the Grace Harper urban fantasy series for adults under the name, J.T. Hardy.

When she's not writing novels, she's teaching other writers how to improve their craft. She's the founder of Fiction University and has written multiple books on writing.

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