We all get it from time to time. It’s that mental block that
prevents you from writing your book. It can come in many forms. Maybe you are afraid
of your writing not being good enough,
so you just stall out mid-novel. Maybe you wrote yourself into a corner and
have no clue how to get out. Maybe you
just don’t know where your story is going. There are all kinds of real reasons
to not continue on with your novel. But,
excuses will only stop you from moving on. How do you push past it?
Try writing something different.
I often have two or three side projects I’m working on. If I
am stuck with one, I might just put it on the back burner for a moment and move
to another. Something works. Maybe not on the story I want to finish, but word
count is word count. And, while your mind is on other things, you might find
inspiration.
Outline.
I’m not an outliner, but even I stop and jot down ideas on a
separate piece (or a few) of paper. Sometimes looking into the background of
your characters will help you push past your current block. Maybe you have a
side story for a character, or you need to look deeper into a scene you just
wrote. Take a step back and focus on story details rather than word count for a
minute and see if that gets the muse talking again.
Read good reviews.
Now this goes against everything I normally tell authors,
because reviews can be a Pandora’s box. But, If you’re an author who already
has books out and a few good reviews, sometimes reading the good ones will help
bolster your self-esteem again and get you back on the writing horse.
There are plenty of reasons not to write, but if you want to
be an author, you have to look beyond
that and find your reasons to finish your story.