So my novel has a lot of the outline ready, pretty much. 5 plotlines that are interconnected. Each of them has something in the middle that I'm stuck on. Like a plotline about lovers who get together because the spouse of one of them finally died (horray!) but then what? Or the plotline about the two friends who are working on a project, but then one of them breaks off and tries to kill someone on the other side of the country (because of reasons I somewhat understand) but then changes her mind (because of reasons I somewhat understand, and maybe because of a different reason that I somewhat understand). And then there is a third plot. Same thing. I will soon have 48 hours to resolve this. Other than looking at my charts and outlines, and pacing, I don't know what else to do. I've been writing this very gradually and very slowly for a couple of years. I have a lot of it in outlines, and also a lot of the novel written. Maybe venting here and sharing will help calm my nerves, which will help me deal with this outrageous weekend. But if you have any tips to share, please do.
If you need to vent, vent. But afterwards, my advice to you is put your outline to one side and write.
Plotting out a complex series of interconnected stories is a big thing to take on (I should know, I'm doing it myself,) so you have to remind yourself that you're going to hit these bumps in the road far more than a tale with fewer characters or plotlines. You're not doing anything wrong, it's simply par for the course. So make sure to not be too hard on yourself. If it's getting frustrating to the point of mania, take a break and recharge the batteries. Or if you don't feel that's for you, do as @Thomas Larmore says, and just write from where you are to see where it takes you. The reason that can be useful is that even if you don't like it, then you have a piece of evidence to show what you don't like, and help you ask yourself *why* you don't like it. It might help click that one neuron into place that sparks the idea that tells you what you *would* like instead. Another approach is to treat the problem like school homework and research it. I once spent an entire week on a stumbling block on my first book, trying to work out various plans of how to break into a super-secure facility for my characters. I wanted it to be as realistic as I could possibly make it, and adhere to the rules I set in place. With every new plan to defeat the security, I would find a flaw. I should've written two chapters in that week, but I only got half. I got over it by giving myself a break, then looking at fresh ways I might attack the situation. I did a load of pure googling, not only for security flaws in my set up, but movies that had similar scenarios. Eventually, it was the first Mission Impossible movie that gave me the spark of an idea of how to get around it. But the point is, I wrote down the problems in bullet point form and treated it like a research project. The more information I found out, the better I narrowed down the problems and flaws, and how to overcome them. I've done this in the past with plotline problems as well. I will write down questions to myself. "Why don't I like this?" "What are all the ways I can think up to resolve this?" "I want this to happen here, so what naturally works to get it from where it is?" etc etc. And then try to write the answers to focus my mind. Forcing my brain into thinking through the problem logically and come up with as many possibilities as it can sometimes gets my mind off the track of nebulous and vague abstract thinking, focusing it on the heart of the problem.
Excellent advice! I love practical solutions, and this is certainly one. @TIG - If you find your brain is 'stuck,' one of the simplest solutions I've discovered is to 'take a walk' Take a long, unpressured walk somewhere you're familiar with, preferably at a time or place where you're not likely to encounter people who will want to speak to you. Avoid too many places where you'll need to come out of your wee trance in order to cross streets, etc. Carry a notebook and pen with you. It's amazing (and weird) how complex story problems can suddenly be resolved in a eureka moment you get, while you're walking. Lots of people—including famous authors— have discovered this trick, by the way ...not just me. Your story problems seem to center around connecting your subplots so they all help to enact the main plot. So, for example ...your lovers, and the 'then what?' Play around with that, and don't be afraid to overturn certain plot points you think are set in stone. They're not. Nothing is set in stone until you publish. Would giving one of the lovers a new career choice make a difference? Would age, race, national origin changes make a difference? Would it make a difference if they 'knew' somebody? Would the setting they're in make a difference if you were to change it? Would a third party putting pressure on something they're doing make a difference? Do they have a child? Are they able/willing/wanting to have children? If yes, does this change things? If no, does this change things? Don't be afraid of using a coincidence to start the ball rolling, either. Coincidences DO happen in life. Just don't use one to end a story's arc. But using one to start a particular arc is fine. Authors do that all the time. See if a new perspective can produce that 'aha!' moment about those lovers, where you discover 'what then.' Don't worry about 'Oh, no, I'll have to re-write!' Yes. That's the price writers pay for getting it ultimately right. You are very likely to need to re-write and/or re-think. Don't expect everything to be perfect out of the starting gate, unless you believe your first thoughts are the only ones that count and you never make mistakes. Don't be afraid to start the actual writing, even if things aren't perfect. Sometimes seeing it written out in front of you can trigger the thinking you need to solve a problem. Just having the vague story swishing around in your head may actually result in blockage. Get it out there, and give yourself the raw material to work with. Your first thoughts can be an inspiration, but second thoughts can recognise your first thought isn't actually workable as is. So don't be afraid to 'think again.' Find a way to make your first thought work! Be willing to change details, and look at the problem from a new perspective.
Thank you everyone for your advice. Regarding one thing that was asked: My problems have nothing to do with how to tie in everything. I know exactly how each of these stories ties into the other stories and the grand plot. My problem, in fact, is with the segments that are self-contained. The lovers, for instance. One of them ties into other plot lines big time. There are also things in his personal life that are completely disconnected from it. He has his project (main plot) and his private life. Because every character has his private life. That's why his private life is difficult for me. They don't really have anything to do with the big plot. Whether he will marry his lover and have 12 children, or lose her immediately, it'll change very little in the grand scheme of things, so I spent less time on that than I did on the grand project he's involved with.
Stuck in the planning stage? Stop planning and start writing the story. When the story wanders outside the plan stop writing and reexamine the plan. Adjust plan as necessary then start writing again.
I know your pain, I spend too much time plotting and by the time I get to writing the thing I get hung up when I get to a scene I already have planned! I agree that you should set the planning aside and start writing, but I'd also like to add this: Don't write each individual story as 'part of a whole' at least not literally. The best thing you can do is tell each singular story as a stand alone while leaving nuggets of information toward the grander plot on the whole. Once you have each of the smaller segments written out, you can probably articulate the more connected parts far better. You might even come up with new connections that work better than the old ones.
