Often times I have written myself into a corner, so to speak, and have battled to find a way to move the story. So I was wondering; has this ever happened to you and what did you do to move your story forward?
'Wrote yourself in a corner' can mean different things. Do you mean you created some story that stalls because the whole premise just doesn't work? I'm more of a plotter and not a pantser, so I usually don't have this type of problem, but I've found some chapters I've vaguely plotted to be difficult to write and take 2-4x longer than others. And I don't like skipping and coming back unless I've at least got some rough scenes down. Also I may find certain types of scenes more difficult to write (relatively speaking, any writing is hard for me), but they are scenes I know are essential.
I am a "discovery writer" (pantser...) and the most progress I recently made on a current WIP was to delete 25,000 words... out of 25,000. I decided that I liked some of the characters and I liked parts of the story, but the characters were in the wrong story, and the story was the wrong one, so in my situation, I am sorry to say that "what did you do to move your story forward" was to go back to square one and start again. (actually, annoyingly, it has since had three false starts... luckily I am not relying on it to keep the lights on!)
Well, a corner is not a closed room, though I admit it may well look like it sometimes. While you're in the corner, see if there's anything there you can use. If not, which happened in my case, I went and started on one of the other ideas I had. Meanwhile, the stuff in the corner is getting caught by a fresh breeze and might get a chance to blow out some time soon. Writing, I've found, is a lot like Legos. You build something cool with all kinds of bricks, but you can't find that one little brick you need to make it look good. You know the bastard little thing is there, because you stepped on it last night when you wanted a drink of water. But, there's more to build, so build that. You won't find the little bastard brick until you stop looking.
I see encountering those corners as finding the dead ends in the labarynth. It's a vital and necessary part of the exploration process, and you need to discover a lot of them before you start to understand the layout of the whole maze. Here's a little something to put it into perspective: "Don't let past failures determine what your future success will be. Walt Disney went bankrupt - twice - before finally gaining lasting momentum. The Beatles were rejected from numerous record labels, as was Tom Petty. Thomas Edison failed at creating the light bulb ten thousand times before getting it right! If he used failure as an indicator of his true path, you might be reading this by candlelight." — Derek Rydall Essentially, it means the ones who are willing to go beyond what they already know, into the mystery of life, can find new things. It isn't failure, it's discovery. That isn't a linear path, it's a labyrinth.
As for how to proceed—there are many approaches. One is, if you run into a snag, apply a story structure method. Check to see if you have turning points, if they're functioning like they're supposed to, etc. Look at the character arc. And I don't mean you have to slavishly follow any method, it's just a prompt. Once you see where the problem is often that's all you need. Then you can start to fix it.
Thanks for your comments and suggestions folks - much appreciated. I think my problem lies in the planning / structure phase. I'll revisit this and see where I can move the story forward.
Sometimes the best thing that can happen to a story is to write yourself into a corner, so to speak. If you're not sure what should happen next, it means the reader probably won't expect it either. This does sometimes happen to me. I think I'm stuck. I think I'm out of ideas. I'm not sure how to get out of this corner. I'll give it a little time, and ALWAYS something comes to me that is better than I expected. Even when I'm still not sure of what's coming next or how to get out of this pickle when I go back to my story I seem to find a way out of the corner when I return to it. Actually, this happens to me a lot. Although it can seem frustrating, I know it's kind of part of my process.
I've done this with all my stories. For whatever reason, the "corner" seems inevitable for me. Sometimes, I can write a way out of it. Other times, I have to backtrack and do a bit of rewriting. But do not ask me about the abandoned projects that are currently sitting in dusty corners...
I am currently here now.... And do not know a way out of said corner. Im THINKING about maybe talking to someone to try to get some ideas/ways out of the corner. So ill see where that goes. Sometimes when this happens, it means that im trying to force a square into a circle and just need to stop trying so hard (or just delete the scene in trying to write). That usually gets me back on track. But i dont feel like i can do that in this piece...
I often times find getting advice yields fantastic results. Not that the advice is the solution, it rarely is. But more often than not it triggers inspiration that wouldn't have come otherwise. And sometimes just forcing yourself to articulate the problem presents the solution all on its own.
Reading your reply to Red Scribbler's post gave me a little hope. Like you, I have several projects in my "garbage" folder. The current project I struggle with daily is on its 2nd attempt to get out of the gate. I'm trying to achieve my goal by working on worksheets. Each one I take on I write more in depth, getting closer to what the story is. It's a strange way to get to know all the different parts of this endeavor.
