Top Five Favorite Movie Moments for Story and Writing

5. Penelope: When he's playing chess with her in front of the mirror. I love the symbolism of that moment-- they're figuring each other out over this calculated game (which she wins! ha!)while he stands in front of a mirror, which shows how his relationship with Penelope ultimately forces him to see himself-- ie his character-- for the empty shell he's become.

4. Mulan: At the end, when Mulan returns home with medals and honors to present to her father as some kind of penance for what she's done, and he lifts her chin and tells her, "The greatest gift and honor is having you for a daughter." Really touching moment. Gets me every time. Shut up.

3. Oceans 11: Danny Ocean happens upon his old flame, Tess, as she waits for her new man to meet her for dinner. After a minute of him trying to be smart and her aloof replies keeping him at bay, Danny asks (about Tess's new lover), "Does he make you laugh?" Tess responds, "He doesn't make me cry."

Two little lines that spell out their entire relationship - peaks to pitfalls, why she chose the new guy - safety over fun, and why she won't be pursuing him again - too painful.

2. Bella: As Nina lists reasons why she will seek an abortion, her voice is cold, detached from her situation. But cut into the conversation are images of her later in the waiting room at a clinic, an exam room, and as she emerges, weeping. A powerful message that the choice is not one coolly calculated or without deep emotional conflict.

1. On a Clear Day: The climactic moment when Frank's goal (swimming the English Channel) is within reach, but the thing he wants most is at his fingertips. (Sorry... trying not to spoil it for anyone who has not seen the movie...) I love the metaphor of crossing the Channel and how it's almost a symbol of another key relationship in his life, and how accomplishing one may unexpectedly put the other within reach. This is one of my favorite movies.

To Be Or Not To Be... Read

This is my "To Be Read" pile. As you can see, it's as tall as my bed and currently contains 28 (I think) books. There are like 7 more in my Amazon cart waiting for payday, too! Nothing quite as exciting as a new box of books. Except maybe a quiet evening and a cup of hot cocoa to go with them.

I most recently enjoyed... Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle. If you asked me what is one book every Christian writer should read, I'd point straight to this one. Without hesitation. I also recently read Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar. Really impressive.

I'm currently reading... The Moral Premise by Stanley D Williams and Beautiful by Cindy Martinusen-Coloma.

I can't wait to read... um... just about anything in my stack? I think actually, three of the books in my amazon cart hold that honor. Leah Cypess's Mistwood (see my post from last week to view the trailer), and the two novels by Stephanie Kuehnert-- because, I ask you, WHO CAN RESIST PUNK FICTION?? That's what I thought! Yeah, baby.

So how about you? What have you been reading, or what tops your "To Be Read" list?

You Might Have Writer's Block If...

1. Instead of writing, you are suddenly seized with the excited urge to scrub the entire bathroom with a toothbrush.

2. You feel more inspired by the possibility that you hair may have split personalities (in addition to split ends) than you do about your current work-in-progress.

3. You consider counting your daily blog post toward your word count total for the day.

4. You find yourself hoping for those annoying political survey phone calls just for an excuse to be distracted.

5. A trip to the grocery store begins to sound very appealing. After all, you are all out of munchies. Who can write without munchies??

6. You wish a guy would float past you standing in a row boat so you could chase after him.

7. You contemplate taking a nap and counting it as time spent "brainstorming."

8. The phone does ring with one of those political survey calls, and you chat it up with the survey proctor and are disappointed bordering on slightly annoyed when they insist they have to return to work now, and you must hang up.

9. You reread the last ten pages you've written and find even yourself bored.

10. You find yourself counting how many times the cursor blinks on your screen.

You Might Be a Writer If...

1. You already have a reading list for next summer.

2. Someone shares a story about a personal experience with you and your first thought is something along the lines of, "Yeah, the hero/heroine in my manuscript went through something like that. First he..."

3. You've caught yourself making faces at the computer screen and the only program open on your computer is MS Word.

4. When a friend tells you they did 5K this morning, you automatically think they mean they wrote 5000 words.

5. Your house contains at least one large horizontal surface covered with unread books.

Gentemen (and ladies) Start Your Violins

My total word count thus far: 30K This means I have six days and five hours to write 20K words. AAAAAAAAAARGH!!!

Okay, okay, okay. The pity party stops here. Discipline! Determination! Rah, rah and all that!



Things I've learned from NaNoWriMo (so far)

1. Every day is a new day. A new chance to torment yourself with strive for that word count goal. To uncover the deeper elements of the characters and plot.

2. You are capable of 2K more today than you think you are. I guarantee it. I won't vouch for the quality of the 2K, but you've got it in you.

3. There's something to be said for just saying it. What I mean is... This contest has forced me to put characters to paper that have lived in my mind for almost fourteen years. Instead of obsessing over the details of each scene, I've pushed ahead and written more than I dreamed possible. Will I save every word? No. But it is easier to rewrite a bad scene a second time through. Editing is an art of its own.

4. Did I mention every day is a new day? Whether or not the goal for yesterday was met is irrelevant today. No time to waste on remorse. Time to put down the whip and start typing.

5. It doesn't end November 30th. I mean... the challenge ends. But the ultimate goal is to complete the manuscript. So gotta keep at it.

6. Writing is like a box of chocolates... wait. No, that's not it. Writing is like sumo wrestling. Except with different outfits. I kind of like those sandals, though. But yeah, it's like sumo wrestling. Better when done with others.

On Writing: Things to Bring to Conference

While I am far from an "expert" writing conference attender, I feel like I've learned so much already, just from my limited experience. A writing conference is a chance to network with other writers, get the word out about your projects to potentially interested agents or editors, learn new things about the craft and the process of getting published and marketing, and to just take a few days away from the keyboard and celebrate the amazing calling of being a writer.

So with all that in mind, there are a few things I'm planning to bring with me to the ACFW conference next month. What are they you ask? How convenient! I'll list them...

1. Business cards. Something simple that includes name, email, and web site, if you have one. I'll be listing this lovely blog. Printing a professional-looking photo on the card isn't a bad idea either. Last year I got home with a few cards without pictures, and couldn't place who the card's owner was. I think I brought 50 last year and still had a few left over. Some people bring more than that.

2. The One-Sheet. These are possibly not hugely known, but they're a really handy way to quickly communicate your project to someone, or help jog your memory while you present to an agent or editor. As it sounds, the One Sheet is a single piece of paper that contains information about you and your manuscript.

3. The Elevator Pitch. This isn't a hard copy of anything. It's a two or three sentence spiel that introduces an interested party to your story (in an elevator, for instance). You want it to clue your listener to your genre, major themes, major conflict, etc. Ideally it should also raise some deeper questions about your story as well.

4. Sample Chapters. While you shouldn't expect an agent or editor to collect pages from you to take home (just imagine the paper load if each author they spoke with gave them a sample chapter or proposal packet), I think it's a good idea to bring a sample chapter or two so that they can skim over it if interested. Do yourself a favor and bring several copies if you can-- I find that I like to make notes on the chapter with suggestions the agent or editor might have.

5. Dress to Impress. Normal attire for a writing conference is business casual... whatever that means? Personally, I choose to dress more comfortable for the workshops and meal times, and more professionally for appointments. A meeting with an agent or editor is a job interview, for you as well as for them. Don't distract them or undermine their opinion of you by looking sloppy and unprofessional.

On Writing: On Reading

You're a writer. Why do you read?

1. To build your own craft. Last week I blogged about how you become like what you behold. Reading work that you enjoy/admire can help you become a better writer. You see what works and can incorporate that into your own writing.

2. To stay informed. It's important to know what's new and up and coming and how what you're working on fits into or expands the genre you're writing for.

3. To know your history. Who wrote groundbreaking novels in your genre? READ THEM. Know whose legs you stand on. Or maybe it's know whose wrists you write from? (har har)

4. To inspire you. Sometimes when I'm reading a good book, it gives me an idea-- helps me solve a plot problem, gives me new vision for a scene, or even a new story idea altogether.

5. To be entertained. Once in awhile, forget you're a writer. Turn off the inner editor and lose yourself in a book that you picked purely because it looked enjoyable.

I try to read one novel per week (which you usually see reviewed on my blog). Do yourself a favor and keep notes on what you read, what you liked. You can start your own blog and do reviews, or post them on a site like Amazon. Or you can just make notes in a journal. That way you have something to refer back to later, if you need them-- perhaps for a comparative analysis in a proposal...

On the Journey: Back on the Trail

Current Word Count: 40,436
Working on Chapter 21

I'm finally back to making some progress! The short story of it is that I moved my writing time to be first thing in the morning, rather than letting it get pushed further and further into the day... or into the next day... and on into oblivion. There were too many days when I'd look at my to-do list and say, "Well, I got everything done today except my writing!" That's no good.

So I am almost finished rewriting the portion of my manuscript that I'd completed in third person past tense, and by the end of the week, I'll be plunging into the murk of the unknown. I will no longer have my old third person version to refer back to. It'll be sailing by the stars from here on out.

Which is okay. I'm nervous, since I've only completed two manuscripts before, and quite frankly the end was terrible on both occasions. I've learned a TON since then (I completed my first project at 14), so hopefully this attempt will go much more smoothly. And, I have my beloved Cannot Stop Writers to slap me upside the head (with love) and help me smooth out the rough places.

If I can pen an ending HALF as brilliant as Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country, I will be one hundred percent satisfied. Speaking of fabulous stories--

I promised a list of the five works of Young Adult Fiction that I have found to be most influential and most sincerely desire to write like. They are:

1. The Outsiders by S E Hinton. If you're not moved by Ponyboy Curtis, you're not human. This story was revolutionary in that it captured the voice of the generation in a way that had not been done before. That voice still stands. I can read it cover to cover, flip it over and start all over again-- and I have. (Remember how the ending is the same as the beginning because he starts writing the paper for school?)

2. The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Referred to in news and journals as "Luminous," "without a wasted word" and "showing all the rapture and rage of growing up in a modern world." 'Nuff said. The descriptions alone absolutely slay me. They're breathtaking.

3. Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. This is more of a coming-of-age story, but that's really more my heart than straight up YA. I love the poem Swede composes and how it parallels the story. Beautifully told. Unforgettable.

4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Again, a coming-of-age story. By far the best example of showing the reader the whole spectrum of the world, but through a child's eyes. Read the scene where Scout goes to talk to her father while he guards his client at the jail. The men of the town come to try to lynch Tom. Atticus will try to stop them. Into the middle of this mayhem walks Scout, who clearly doesn't understand what's happening. But by her innocent comments to the men present, she reminds them of all that Atticus has done for them and diffuses the whole situation-- and it is completely believable! Amazing! Incredible. A story of tremendous weight told by a narrator who only understands a small portion of all that's going on. Yet the reader sees the whole picture.

5. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Yes, yes... I come at you with another coming-of-age tale. And a sad one, too. These are characters you fall for, and you fall deep and hard. You ache for them. You experience the hardship of life and the pain of growing up and the loss of childhood innocence.

So those are my picks. Those are the tales that I would choose to let mold and shape me as a writer. Some biggies. Very biggies. Reach for the stars, right?

On Writing: Quick and Easy Snacks to Keep You Going

Here are seven simple snacks with pick-me-up qualities that I find helpful when I need that mid-afternoon boost to get through my daily writing goal (or any goal):

1. A full glass of water. You're probably thinking... what? How does water help you feel energized? But studies have shown that fatigue is often caused by mild dehydration. So before you reach for the coffee, try drinking a glass of water to rehydrate a little bit.

2. Good old PB&J on whole wheat. Can't do much better than that! Whole grain carbs and peanut butter (protein) for energy and a little bit of sweet to perk you right up.

3. Peanut butter on an apple. Much like the above, only without the bread! A nice salty/sweet combo.

4. Crackers and cheese slices. Choose whole grain crackers for the best energy boost. Opt for part-skim mozzarella if you're counting the calories.

5. Guacamole and chips. I prefer the unsalted blue corn chips, but you can use regular white corn tortilla chips if you prefer. Guacamole is easy to make, healthy, and (I find) highly addictive.

6. Morning Star (Veggie) Buffalo Wings, carrot sticks, and ranch dressing. Okay, don't scoff until you've tried them. They're hot and spicy and cook up pretty well even in the microwave. Look for them in the vegetarian part of the freezer section at your local grocery. Cook up a serving (four) of those, add some carrot sticks and a little ranch... you're good to go. (Just don't eat so many carrots that you turn orange.)

7. Grapes and goldfish. Can you tell I have a toddler? Reach for the toddler in you and try the cheesy fish made with whole grain, with a cluster of grapes on the side.

Happy writing!

Ack! It's Thursday Already?!

Where did the days go? To all six of my beloved readers... I'm so sorry. I have not been on the ball here lately. Between picking up extra work and potty training my daughter, I've really let the blog fall to the wayside. I imagine it will take me a few more days to collect my thoughts and finish reading the novel I will next review.

Speaking of reviews, here's what tops my list for books I can't wait to get my hands on:

1. Tweak: Growing up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff: The story of a boy's journey through addiction to crystal meth.

2. Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction by David Sheff: You guessed it. The same story as above, but the father's journey. Thank you Patti for tossing these titles my way!

3. Glass by Ellen Hopkins: The sequel to her novel Crank. Christina's second battle with meth.

4. Eragon by Christopher Paolini: The first book in the trilogy about the boy Eragon and his dragon. Actually, my brother lent me this and the sequel and keeps asking for them back, so I figure I better get on it!

5. The Masquerade by Sarah Anne Sumpolec: The first book in her Becoming Beka series. I had the privilege of meeting Ms Sumpolec at a conference last fall when she went over a critique of my first three chapters with me. Her feedback was immensely helpful and encouraging. I've been interested in checking out her YA series ever since!

I suppose this means I should update my little column over there that says "spring reading list."

Anyone out there currently reading or excited about reading anything soon?

On Writing: You Might Be a Writer If...

1. You at least occasionally find yourself mentally narrating your own life.

2. The people you know the best are the central characters in a story you're writing.

3. You spot real people who remind you of your main characters at Wal-Mart and consider stealthily following them around to see what they say and do that might contribute to your story.

4. You see a story in everything. There is always an obstacle, drama, drama and more drama.

5. You find it next to impossible to write an email containing less than 300 words.

6. You take great delight in contemplating and carrying out the demise of one of your characters.

7. You fall in love with a good story, no matter who wrote it.

8. You can't stop thinking about writing. Your daydreams are stories. Your dreams. You might be able to walk away from it for a season, but the story is a longing that never fades away completely.

Food and Writing: Keeping Your Blood Sugar Up

So you're writing. You have goals to write a certain amount per day, and maybe a date by which you must finish this project. You're committed to making this happen, even if someone has to chain you to your keyboard until you meet your daily word count. What can you do to make this process easier? Well... one thing for certain! Keep your brain well-fed and at the top of its game! Here are some tips and hints I've found helpful:

1. Stay hydrated. Fatigue is often the result of being mildly dehydrated. Sugary or caffeinated beverages also contribute to dehydration. So grab a glass or two of water along with that cup of coffee.

2. Speaking of caffeine-- I will admit to being seriously excited about that extra boost it seems to give, improving concentration, but be wary. As stated above, stay hydrated, and look out for the inevitable caffeine crash!

3. Try to stick with healthy snacks that will boost your blood sugar without dropping you like a hot cookie sheet. Whole foods, like fruits and vegetables, or whole grains. You know the drill. One of my current favorites is fresh guacamole and blue corn chips. (Recipe below)

4. When all else fails, bust out the cookies and coke. At least, if you're me. There is just something about a few Oreos that seems to do the trick sometimes. There's nothing wrong with pampering yourself occasionally. ;)

5. Snacking is okay, but be sure you start with a good breakfast and break to eat a good lunch. Something heavy will slow you down while your body works to digest it, so avoid that if you can.


Guacamole Recipe
1 medium avocado (the small bumpy ones, not the bigger, lighter ones for this recipe.)
1 plum tomato, chopped (or less, to taste. I LOVE tomatoes.)
1 TBSP finely chopped onion
Garlic powder, to taste (you can also use fresh minced garlic. probably 1 clove.)
Salt, to taste (if I'm using salted chips, I leave the salt out of the guac.)
Cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)
Tortilla Chips

Cut avocado in half and spoon out of skin into a bowl. Mix with the spoon. Add chopped tomato and onion, mix well. Add seasonings to taste. Enjoy with chips!

Favorite Quotes On Writing

Here are some of my favorite writing quotes:

"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately no one knows what they are." -W Scott Maugham

"Writing is easy. All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until the drops of blood form on your forehead." -Gene Fowler

"The reason one writes isn't the fact he wants to say something. He writes because he has something to say." -F Scott Fitzgerald

"The only reason for being a professional writer is that you just can't help it." -Leo Rosten

"The writer operates at a peculiar crossroads where time and place and eternity somehow meet. His problem is to find that location." -Flannery O'Connor

And my favorite, though it does not pertain specifically to writing. It captures in essence the process the hero and heroine encounter in the story:

"Without change, something sleeps inside us and never awakens. The sleeper must awaken." -Frank Herbert

Five Questions to Ask Your Characters

1. What do you fear most? -- A story moves forward building tension. What does your character fear most? Find out, and then drop it on them! Think about what might cause your character to face this fear. Think Indiana Jones and the snakes!
   
2. What is your goal? What do you want most? --Again, this is a recipe for tension. What does he want? Take it away! Place obstacles there.
3. What did you do the week before the story begins? --I like this, because it helps put your first chapter in the middle of action, rather than at the beginning of it all. Give yourself a feel for what's already in motion, what's going on just before the first page begins. That way you've already got some tension right from the getgo. (Are you noticing a theme here? Tension! Tension!! TENSION!!!)
4. What are your likes and dislikes? --That's a pretty general question, but again... think in terms of tension. Maybe the heroine is a neat-freak. So everywhere she goes, she notices things out of place. You can use this to cue the reader in to when she's really internally upset by her noticing everything out of place and it bothering her to an unreasonable degree.
   
5. What's your theme song? --Okay, this is a favorite of mine. The music someone likes speaks volumes about who they are. Is it old? New? Upbeat? Melancholy? A love song? A break-up song? Something classic?

These are not the only five, but these are a great place to start. You can find other questionnaires and surveys all over the internet. Confession: sometimes I'll pull a survey off the MySpace bulletin board and fill it out for the characters in my current story. It's a great way to see how much you know... or to waste an hour, depending on your point-of-view! (Procrastination is evil!!)

Add a "Why?" to any and all of these questions and you've got a whole deeper layer.

Five Things I've Learned About Dialog

1. There’s no “ue” at the end. It’s dialog, not dialogue… Oops. (Actually, now I'm really confused. Because it can have the "ue" at the end. But Firefox does flag it as being misspelled.)
   

2. Tags are BAAAAAAAD!! A “tag” is something like “he said,” “she yelled,” “he whispered,” etc. You want your text to infer these sorts of statements without having to spell it out for the reader. Use them only under extreme duress!
   

3. Beats are GOOOOOOD! A “beat” is another action or description that gets stuck alongside a line of dialog:

“Hurray!” She jumped up and down, clapping.

She raised an eyebrow. “You want to do what?”

“Well, just be careful.” He grinned. “I hear it gets dark in Texas.”

4. People rarely say what they mean. Think about it. You’re mad at your best friend, but it’s over something silly. Maybe she has the cutest haircut ever, and even your boyfriend commented on it. But you don’t want to ruin her day over that, so you try to be cheery. But you don’t feel so cheery inside. The words of the dialog should sound chipper. But the text around them should convey the conflict you’re feeling.

5. In real life, there’s LOTS of dialog with little purpose. In a book… every word counts. Every line should be accomplishing something. Deepening the reader’s understanding of the character, taking the story to its next point, heightening the conflict. One of my favorite exchanges comes from the movie Oceans 11, starring George Clooney as Danny Ocean. Danny sits down at a table with Tess, his former lover. He tries to put down her current relationship by asking, “Does he make you laugh?”

Tess responds: “He doesn’t make me cry.”

Two little lines of dialog, yet it reveals volumes about their history. You can picture it all. Danny loves the excitement of a life on the run. Tess can’t handle the danger, even though being with Danny makes her happy. She left him for a “safer” person, traded a chance at happiness for the security of someone much more stable. All that condensed into those ten words.

Research In Writing

When I think of stories requiring a lot of research, I think of historical fiction, where you're researching a particular time period, or maybe suspense, where there tends to be a lot of police involvement and crime-solving.

But the truth is that every story requires a degree of research. You can simplify this process by writing what you know. Use a familiar setting. Use an occupation that is familiar to you for your hero or heroine.

I find that inevitably, my characters take me into uncharted waters. One becomes a firefighter/paramedic. One becomes and informant to help police discover the location of a meth lab. One goes on a cross-country journey to find his biological father. One becomes a lead singer in a band with explosive success.

So how do I write these things believably, accurately, and in realistic detail? Well… Research!

The good news is that in the Information Age, there’s a lot that I can find out via the internet. The story about the firefighter/paramedic is set in Virginia. I happened to stumble onto a volunteer rescue squad in Virginia that actually posts calls they take on their web site online. Gives me some great information!

Through my Netflix subscription, I was able to find two documentaries about Meth and its production and use in the US. That gives me some really valuable history about the drug and its use that will form some of the backdrop and between the lines stuff in that story.

But honestly, I’m a “hands on” kind of girl. I want to talk to someone who is involved in what I’m writing about. Ask questions, learn about things directly from a source. So that means stepping outside the box a little further.

Last fall, I sent an email to the web site manager for the rescue squad in Virginia. He responded enthusiastically, letting me know that I could use information on the CARS web site for my story, as well as offering to answer any questions I might have along the way. Wow!

Encouraged, I sent an email to the local fire chief. He put me in contact with a Battalion Chief here, who met with me to answer some questions, and also gave me permission to ride along with one of the stations! So I spent several evenings actually going out on calls with them—watching them do lift assists, rescue car accident victims, etc. It was an amazing experience.

This year, I contacted the police department and asked if there was someone I could speak with regarding meth in this area. Yet again, they responded with enthusiasm and someone took the time to meet with me and answer my questions.

So… Be encouraged! Step out there! If you’re writing about something, and you need some hands-on research, ask someone! See if you can’t get yourself a contact with the information you’re looking for. My experience has been very positive—and I do not have a long list of publications with which to impress them. It’s just my word that I’m writing a novel. So get out there and give it a shot!

I'm Stuck! Now What? (Coping with Writer's Block)

If you've ever tried to write, chances are, you've experienced it: the dreaded Writer's Block. It strikes out of the dark- suddenly, without warning- and BLAM! You're stuck. What comes next?!?!

How do you get past this dreaded demon? Here are some things I've found helpful:

• Take a walk, or a swim, or a jog, or whatever mindless activity gets your brain wandering. Talk to yourself, clear your head. Then wait and see. Sometimes I find that during a walk, some little idea will spring into my head that begins to untangle the mess that resulted in The Block.
• Delete the last paragraph, or page... or (eek!) scene. Sometimes I find that my problem is that whatever I've just written rings false to the pace of the story or the characters themselves. Sometimes if I just delete that last bit and start over, inspiration is reborn. If you're chicken, cut and paste your last paragraph into a new document so you don't lose it.
• Go back to the drawing board. And dont' be afraid to think outside the box. What if a meteor falls? Okay, maybe that's too outside the box. But stretch your previous concepts of the story. What if the heroine has a deep secret? What if the hero is injured in a car accident? At the very least, you'll learn more about your characters as you examine these options and their responses to them. Which brings us to the next...
• Have lunch with your hero or heroine or whoever is in charge of the troublesome scene. Explore your character to a deeper level. Interview him or her. What are his/her deepest dreams? What does he/she value most? Fear most?
• Take a nap. Sometimes you just need to rest. It seems counterproductive if you've got goals and deadlines to stop and take a forty minute nap, but hey... if you're stuck, how is staring at the screen for another forty minutes getting you closer to your goal anyway? May as well rest and recharge. Maybe it will give you the boost you need.
• Take your show on the road. Try writing with a different backdrop. The library, a coffee shop or bookstore even. This is admittedly easier when you have a laptop, but not impossible without one. Print out a character interview, take it with you and fill it out at your new locale. Print what you have of your story or chapter so far and reread it over a coffee and Danish. Make notes and write anything that occurs to you in a notebook. Maybe some ideas that have been eluding you will decide to show.
• Plow through it. Just push through the scene. Even if you know it's rough and not the right tone or voice, at least get the idea on paper. What's the scene about? What are the events that occur? I like lists. So sometimes it helps me to list the events in the scene that occur just as a guide. I may or may not stick to it, but at least it helps me focus on what I'm writing and what comes next. Sometimes I finish a scene like this knowing it's not at all what I want, but I will go back over it the following day or week or when the manuscript is finished and polish it up. Or delete it and rewrite it. But at least having something on paper allows me to move past the trouble-spot to the rest of the story.

So I hope at least some of those ideas are helpful. What do you do when you're stuck? What are some ways of Karate chopping the Writer's Block have you discovered work for you?