The critical hump stall

My stall usually comes around page 100. By the time I get to the climax, I have a pretty clear idea of where the story's going, so I rarely have a problem getting there.

Probably not helpful.

Come on ccarver30, put your butt in the chair and just do it. It's never right the first time, but editing is sooo much easier than writing it the first time. You know what's going to happen; just blast through it and fix it later. Go, go, go.

Lots of writers stall out in the "great swampy middle' as Jim Butcher calls it.

You can second-guess and excuse yourself into giving up and starting a FIFTH WIP---which will also probably stall out...

Or suck down some caffeine, put on your game face, and plow through to the end.

Siddown and get ONE of them finished.

Even if you hate it, the danged thing is FINISHED.

You will have accomplished something amazing.

Later you can totally polish it into publishable brilliance, but for now, slog your stubborn way out of the swamp.

Your protag must make a decision. Does he turn right or left? Does he make the call or not? Does he say yes or no? It all comes down to one decision at a time, and how that decision affects the future.

Fear not, CC! You'll be fine. I completed my first two manuscripts with few problems. The situation I now face is, after 26k words, I've realized my 3rd manuscript sucks. Back to the drawing board.

ccarver30 said:

I am revamping my 1st novel (Stone and Glass). I am almost done at 72k and did the same thing. I am at the most critical point and I stopped writing. I need to punch myself in the face or something!!

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First off: I love that animation! XD

Ahem.. anyway I hate it when I get stuck somewhere and it feels like I can't go anywhere in my novel even though the characters are already a step ahead of me. Everything is set up - they are just waiting for me. I agree with what everyone said with slogging through

Whenever I get to critical points I try to keep writing as long as possible. I'm in the groove and if I leave it could be a bit before I can return again. Of course that is when the dog needs to go outside or something. X_x

Good luck with your slogging!

cc, Just as Gil said upstream, pick one of your stories and push on through. Do not move on to the others until you have that one done. Then pick a second one and push through that one until done. Keep going.

To everyone else, do this long before you have two or more half-finished stories. Finish what you start.

Not to rock the boat or anything, but I actually disagree with people. When I try to just sit down and write, it often doesn't work. When I feel this kind of hang up you're describing, it often means that my plan for the scene is wrong. Maybe you should sit down with a journal or someone you know and just rant about what you need to accomplish in this scene, what the characters are feeling, which things are absolutely essential and which can be changed. Whatever. And even if it turns out that I'm wrong, and what you had planned was perfect, this exersize'll get you more in the right state of mind.

Good luck!

ccarver30 said:

Stunted - I think you might be right. Why else would I just stop? Maybe it just isn't "right" so I am taking time to rethink the scene that is of the utmost importance. Hmm... I think this is true for WIP 1 and 2 for sure. The scenes I am on are difficult. I need to stop being such a wimp. (I stopped on 3 because 4 felt the need to be written. LOL)

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I got stuck for three days on my current WIP recently. I was refusing to recognize that I had to kill off one of my major characters to advance the plot. Once I came to terms with the issue, the block disappeared. My guess is that something is telling you to rethink an important issue.

Maybe you have a fear of failure? If you never finish anything, it can't be rejected, right?

Also, sometimes when you take yourself out of "the zone" and begin to question your motives with the story, it becomes very difficult to place yourself back into the flow of the story. Maybe you've second-guessed the climax's strength in your stories, thus taking you out of the necessary frame of mind to write them. Doubt yourself and not only will you not walk on water, you'll fall into the waves...or, some other such biblical parable .

Best of luck with it. I haven't quite figured out the remedy to such a problem, other than to ignore your monkey brain (analytical conscious) and talk to the lizard brain (creative subconscious) as often as possible.

Once you make yourself finish one thing, the rest come easier. Somewhat.

Stunted said:

Not to rock the boat or anything, but I actually disagree with people. When I try to just sit down and write, it often doesn't work. When I feel this kind of hang up you're describing, it often means that my plan for the scene is wrong. Maybe you should sit down with a journal or someone you know and just rant about what you need to accomplish in this scene, what the characters are feeling, which things are absolutely essential and which can be changed. Whatever. And even if it turns out that I'm wrong, and what you had planned was perfect, this exersize'll get you more in the right state of mind.

Good luck!

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You are not disagreeing, in my mind. This is one good way to deal with a stuck scene. It's something every writer faces. But the danger is in jumping to another project every time this happens, which is the best way to never finish anything. What you are suggesting is to stick with the scene and the story, and that is exactly what several of us are saying as well. Sometimes we can bull-rush our way through a stuck scene. Sometimes it takes a few 30-minute hot showers. Sometimes it takes some serious time to consider alternate approaches, and some venting or doodling to work it out. And frequently, there is the eureka moment when a solution comes and the scene takes flight.

I'm stalling and dawdling before the climax--for me, that's the hardest part of the story, the late-middle section BEFORE the big moment. So, I kind of know the feeling. There's this fear of messing the important stuff up, of rushing everything toward the end when chances are more likely I'm dragging my feet!

The only way around it that I know of is to just quit dragging one's feet and write. *shrug* As hard as it might be. Problems can always be fixed later. And yes, I need to take my own advice. Admitting you have a problem is the first step!

Sounds like classic climax anxiety -- how can it ever be good enough? And once I've finished the novel, don't I have to finally face the fact that it finally fails to meet the brilliant expectations I had at the start?

Accept that it will fall short. Speed-write an outline for the climax. Then write it, take a break, and go back for a second draft.

My favorite tip on climaxes: Don't cut them too short. This is the big payoff to the reader -- give him time to savor it.