What do you do when your novel isnt going anywhere?

I would start by interviewing the main character and asking him what his story is.

I just trash it. I may use the idea later on, but it the story realiy isn't going anywhere, I start working on a more worthwhile. That, or I completely rewrite the current proyect with a better outline to ensure I get somewhere.

First--I give myself a break for one day to a week, depending on how tired/stressed/burned out I am.

Second--When it's time to go back to the writing, I go back to the original spark that made me want to write the book in the first place and get all geeked about it again.

Third--I reread what I've already got written and make sure that it aligns with the original spark. A good percentage of the time, I've stalled because I lost the spark in the story and need to get it back. Taking the break gives me space to be able to see that.

Only after I've done this can I make a good decision about continuing or stopping or revision.

Hm. You're at the 12K mark? You may be hitting the mid-book slump. I've run into it with every book or story I've written. Here's a diagram I found so long ago that I forget who made it:

http://bp2.blogger.com/_j2cb6HW4iSA...LE/FJC2OGIyyQ4/s1600-h/novel+chart+boring.jpg

I think it's important to finish what you start. You can revise the bad stuff out later.

I don't do outlines. I just have a general idea and wing it. If I hit a slump, I go in another, maybe totally unexpected, direction. Or I put it aside for awhile and write other things.

I would stop and try to figure out what the problem is. Does your protagonist have a goal? Who or what stands in the way? If you can't answer those questions, that is likely your problem. If you can, it should be relatively easy to find new methods of trying to reach that goal and new obstacles to thwart it.

Drop your characters in a situation and let them do something weird or fend for themselves.

If your characters have strong goals and desires and conflicts, etc. your story/plot will come out naturally. If not, you may want to see if there's just nothing at stake. If so, how do you ramp up the stakes and make it matter?

I keep going until I finish the book and keep on the same schedule with the same goals. Anything and everything can be fixed in draft #2, but only if I finish draft #1.

However, I almost always have an outline. I start any project by writing the first three chapters to determine if I am passionate about it. If the ideas are still flowing, I write the outline by writing a 2-3 page author's synopsis of what's going to happen. I then simply go through that and break it into a very basic outline. I also never tie myself to the outline -- I've killed main characters off while writing even though it wasn't in the outline. That's just how the story played out.

The reason I like the outline is that I always have an idea of what I am writing about next. The "oh this is just crap" feeling is pretty standard and I think a lot of writers get it. You feel that way because writing is hard and it tests your creativity, will, and sense of self-security. So, I just dismiss it as simply another part of the writing process and press onward.

As I said, if the story really is crap, I can fix it in the next draft. There was something there that made me want to write it, so I won't abandon it just yet.

When you're writing a story, I think there are always going to be times when it seems like it's going nowhere, and the only solution is to push through. On the other hand, as you say you didn't outline, I think maybe your problem is that you don't know where to push through to! I reckon you should take a break, and maybe do some rough planning with a pen and paper about where you want to go with your novel.

This is probably the best argument I see here that suggests a new writer should think a story through before starting to write. I'm not talking about an outline, or about a detailed concept, but there should at least be an idea of the story arc and how it is going to end, even if all of that is modified later as the writing progresses. There are people who can and do just write and let the story tell itself, but I've seen the evidence (here at AW) of way too many beginning writers who get part way through a story and can't figure out where it's going when a little thought about the story arc at the outset could have helped with the writing progression.

And there is nothing wrong with outlining if that's what works for you. It doesn't stifle creativity or reign in a story in any way, as some suggest. Sometimes a stuck project can benefit from that kind of forced thinking about the story trajectory.

If it's genuinely not working (and not just mid-book slump): burn it. Salt the earth. Raise a glass in its honor. Or six. And the next morning, start something new.

Laurababs said:

Or just generally not got a good story to it? Do you push on and finish it regardless or start a new one?

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DISCLAIMER: This is not my advice. Just something I'd do.

Just now I realize that this book isn't going anywhere, and what I did was not write anything at all. I made a rule for myself. From now on, unless my "wonderful idea" has anything to do with the story. Unless it moves the story along(which is what I badly want) then I don't write it. I grew tired of random irrelevant stuff popping into my head. I haven't had any productive ideas for weeks.

Don't burn anything! IMHO, every story has something you can take from -- a character, a plot element, prose, etc. I don't discard my creations, ever, no matter how crappy they sounded at the time. In fact, I was able to take something I wrote at least 10 years ago and turn them into short stories, etc. I even sold one. Everything can be recycled, even if the original work is not salvageable by itself.

But I do agree that if you're really stuck, like it's really not going anywhere and the story is dead.... write something new.

I have a method that has never let me down.

Whenever I get stuck, I add ninjas. You can never have enough ninjas.

It works for all genres:

Romance. Western. Horror. Cookbooks.

Ninjas. Ninjas. Ninjas. Ninjas.

XThe NavigatorX said:

I have a method that has never let me down.

Whenever I get stuck, I add ninjas. You can never have enough ninjas.

It works for all genres:

Romance. Western. Horror. Cookbooks.

Ninjas. Ninjas. Ninjas. Ninjas.

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also add beach streakers and crazy monkeys. ^_^

And pirates.

...and plot.

XThe NavigatorX said:

I have a method that has never let me down.

Whenever I get stuck, I add ninjas. You can never have enough ninjas.

It works for all genres:

Romance. Western. Horror. Cookbooks.

Ninjas. Ninjas. Ninjas. Ninjas.

Click to expand...

Okay, that's it. Next time I get stuck on a chapter, I'm having my heroine be attacked by ninjas. Vampire ninjas, or maybe fairy ninjas....

Sexy vampire ninjas = SOLD!

*Snickering at above comments about pirates, ninjas, etc...* Pirates, ninjas, etc aside (ninjas in cookbooks? that I'd love to see, btw), I'd set it down, step away and do something else for a while. Read a book, watch TV, take a long walk (preferably not in the rain...). I've been going through some stuff I wrote six years ago and discovered I stopped writing one novel at almost 50k words. I won't say it's the best writing in the world (far from it, to be honest), but oh well.

My rambling point is: give it a break, come back to it and see if you have any ideas. If you have someone you can bounce ideas off of and who might start asking questions, try that. Especially if they're intimate with what you're writing.

Just, don't hit the "delete" key and toss it away permanantly. I've been digging through stuff I wrote six years ago (some of it written rather poorly, I might add...) and I'm discovering stuff that would work for prequel material to "Death's Heiress". So even if you decide it's completely dead (hopefully not!), you'll find a way to use it later.

If nothing else, throw in a new, out-of-the-blue-didn't-see-it-coming twist. Maybe a beach-streaking ninja-pirate with a crazy monkey on his shoulder?

Anywhos, just my thoughts... take or toss (just make sure you hit the trash can... ;-) I usually have lousy aim...) as you like. :-D

If you really want to keep going with this book, if I were you I'd figure out the very worst thing that could happen to your MCs in their quest for their goal. And then I'd make it happen to them.

I don't knock anyone who enjoys outlining and who finds this approach works for them. If the idea of outlining sounds appealing to you, do it.

But, if, like me, it makes you want to puke, or never write again, then don't.

You must, however, know what your character's main goal/problem is. You don't have to know it in the first chapter. I sometimes write a couple of chapters or chunks of story to feel out my MC, and then figure out what he's trying to do.

So, my MCs tend to want to achieve some impossible goal. Asking themselves, "How on Earth am I going to do that?" they pursue it with an intensity bordering on panic that they might fail.

Meanwhile I write, asking myself, "How on Earth am I going to get my MC to do that?" I pursue it with an intensity bordering on panic that I might fail.

Yes, it's nerve-wracking. It's also great fun to feel like I have as much at stake as my MC, to be as surprised as he is at when and how it all works out.

If you're just stuck, and you've been spending too much time writing, try some real life for a while. If you haven't really been working much, then follow some of the suggestions above. If you're still stuck, brainstorm about a new project. I always have more than one going at a time, and almost all of them get finished.

As Maestro said, never delete writing you're unhappy with. I have files and files of cut scenes, false starts, story ideas that have yet to be written, etc. Just like the stupid mistakes I've made in my life in general, which end up surprising me with fruitful results years later, your writing mistakes can yield you stories you can't imagine right now.

NeuroFizz said:

...and plot.

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Plot is good, everything else seems weird.