Three Reasons I Usually Get Stuck In My Stories
Or, the stuff that's always missing when my books aren't "working"
As you all know, if you’ve followed me for long, I am someone who firmly believes writer’s block is a thing, and I’m someone whose process even relies on it to produce anything of quality.
I hit blockage constantly.
If I’m really in a drafting zone, then I’ll hit it daily. I get stuck; what I planned to write no longer works; I can’t see what needs to happen; I freak out and stop writing.
Sometimes I stop writing for only a few hours before I “see” the path forward. Sometimes I stop for years. (Yes, years.)
What I have discovered, after writing millions of words and publishing fourteen novels (plus some short stories in there too), is that I tend to make the same mistakes every single time.
I get stuck for the same reasons every single time. And somehow, every single time, I forget that these are the reasons I always get stuck.
So the purpose of today’s post is twofold:
I want to share my “stuck points” in case they are an issue for you as well,
And I want to cement these “stuck points” in my own mind, so maybe in the future, I remember to turn to this list before I start spinning my wheels and freaking out.
1. Personal stakes
One of my most common causes of “stuckery”—especially at the beginning of a book—is an absence of personal stakes.
In other words: what does the main character stand to lose if they don’t achieve their goal?
Sure, I might have some obvious world-ending stakes and a villain that’s clearly up to no good, but if there’s no personal investment for my main character, then it doesn’t matter how big the other stakes are.
Think about it: at end of the day, most people don’t save the world simply because it’s the right thing to do. They save the world to save the people they love.
And for me, if I can’t see what the personal stake is for my main character, then I simply can’t see/feel/connect with any reason for them to make the life-threatening (or maybe reputation-threatening) choices that will get the plot moving.
On top of that, including personal stakes allows the reader to form a connection with the character. We simply care more if we know that the characters stands to lose something personally important to them.
A recent example of this for me showed up in a detective mystery I’m writing.
My detective was assigned the case, and so she was going about her due diligence to catch the murderer. Find clue, follow clue, find new clue. It was fine, but there wasn’t any forward thrust. There was no reason beyond a general whodunit to keep reading.
And sure! Whodunits can be interesting all on their own, but if you layer in personal stakes, then, ah! It makes for a much more propulsive story.
So I ended up adding that my detective had been recently demoted after a case went badly. Now she has to solve this case in order to restore her reputation.
Which means now I have personal stakes. Now there’s more than just “trying to find the killer” that guides Claudia’s every decision; she also needs to find the killer to prove she’s the best at this gig and get her old job back.
2. A desperate desire
Desperate desires are an extension of personal stakes, but they are taking those personal stakes and making them desperate.
So desperate, in fact, that the character will make some bad—maybe even morally shady—choices to achieve what they desire.
E.g. the character’s little sister will die if my MC doesn’t achieve their goal, and as such, no choice is out of the question to save her.
To go back to my detective example: Claudia is now so desperate to prove she’s the best—because her screwup not only meant she lost her job, but it also dinged her entire self-image as the best detective in town—that she’s willing to cut corners to get there.
Is that the best for the whodunit? No! In fact, it’s actively bad… But that’s what desperation does: it adds conflict and tension to the tale.
I can always tell if a desire isn’t desperate enough because I lose track of what my character will do next. It feels like a bike tire that’s losing all its air. My character just goes pffffffft on the page. I lose sight of what they’d choose next and why.
But when the desire is DESPERATE. Oh, then it’s clear. They will do almost anything, no matter the risk, and that means there are myriad choices to pluck from.
3. A clear motivation that the reader never questions
I have a rule I always try to follow in my fiction: if I have to use more than a sentence or two to explain why a character is making their current choice, then it’s the wrong choice.
Character motivation should always be obvious to the reader.
In other words, the reader should know—because of personal stakes + the desperate desire—why a character is doing what they are doing at any given time. And if it takes me paragraphs to explain that motivation, then that means the motivation is wrong.
It means, in fact, that I’m making my character do something they wouldn’t do.
This is one of my most frequent causes of stuckery in later parts of a draft! A character has behaved out of character somewhere, doing something for the sake of my outline instead of for the sake of their desire. Whenever this happens, I go back to the “bad” decision and start anew—even if that means cutting a lot of words. 🥲
Now this isn’t to say you should never explain a character’s reasons. Mysteries in particular will require some on-the-page explanation of how Clue X leads to Clue Y and why the character is opting to explore Clue Z right now instead of Clue W.
But, the pursuit of the case and the choices they make to pursue that case should always be obvious. The reader should understand from page one why the character is willing to take the risks they’re taking.
You don’t ever want a reader to say, Huh, why is she doing that?
Nor do you want to bog a reader down with six pages of explanation. If it’s the “right” choice, it’ll inherently make sense to the reader.
A really easy example of this from one of my own books is in The Luminaries: Winnie is desperate to restore her family to the society they’ve been cast out from. And it’s not just for her own sake, but for her brother’s and mom’s as well.
I establish the crappiness of their circumstances in chapter one + I state Winnie’s desperate desire openly (get back in the Luminaries). Therefore, every decision that follows—including some very bad and dangerous ones—has clear context and focus.
Because we know how shitty her life is (and how shitty it is for her brother and mom too), we understand why there is no cost too high. I never have to explain to the reader why she’s choosing what she chooses.
So there you have it! Those are the usual three culprits behind my drafting blockage.
The first two—personal stakes and a desperate desire—most frequently crop up early in a manuscript. I’ll hit the end of Act 1, and pfffffft. There goes all the bike tire’s air.
Meanwhile, muddy motivation and characters behaving out of character are more often a culprit later in the draft. I have clear desires and stakes, but now my character is acting in opposition to those simply because I liked the look of it on my outline.
So if you find yourself stuck, maybe look at your own characters and see what you’re working with. Perhaps the stakes aren’t personal enough or the desire isn’t desperate enough, or maybe your protagonist zigged left when they definitely should have zagged right.
And don’t be afraid to cut words!
I often cut as many words from my manuscripts as I actually commit to the page. This no longer bothers me; every word—kept or cut—is a necessary stepping stone to reach the Right Story.
Now you tell me: what are the most frequent culprits for blockage in your own stories?
💚 - Sooz
This has absolutely been my experience! The outline was so logical and pretty when I wrote it…. 🫠
Oh hey, this is so timely for my current WIP. Thanks for sharing your experience. These are GREAT suggestions.