6 Tips for When Your Book Isn’t Working–A Guest Blog by Karen Wiesner

Whether or not you completed an outline before beginning the NaNoWriMo challenge, you may discover that the book you’re writing like mad isn’t working. Don’t get disappointed about that. There are things you can do. If one option doesn’t work, try another.

1) Brainstorm. In First Draft in 30 Days, I give you a huge list of ways to spark your imagination. Try every single of them if you need to, to get your ideas for the story rolling.

2) Are you revising as you go? DON’T! By doing so, you’re not allowing yourself the distance you’ll need when you complete this stage (we’ll talk more about this next week). All stages need completely different mind-sets, and, when you’re writing, you’re not in revision mind-set. You can’t be in both at the same time. Concentrate on one stage at a time. This month, you’re writing, not outlining, not revising.

3) Try isolating your plot threads (visit my website here for very detailed examples of how to do this; how to do this is also talked about in First Draft in 30 Days). First, figure out what your plot threads are (the First Draft in 30 Days website has tips on this, along with the book). Each thread should unfold logically and steadily, while still maintaining tension within the story. Now, remove any plot thread completely out of your formatted outline, and re-read the outline. Without the thread, does the story still work? If it does, it’s not necessary. If it doesn’t, then it needs to be there. Maybe it just needs to be somewhere else. Try putting that thread into a different spot within the outline. Decide where it fits best. When you isolate a particular plot thread in your outline, you should be able to see any holes. Holes tell you exactly where the problems are so you can correct them.

4) Ask yourself if you have enough conflict and if your characters well developed enough to be coming alive? Are your characters cohesive with your plot and setting? Lack of cohesion between these three elements may produce a roadblock in your writing, not allowing you to go forward with a book. If your characters don’t fit the plot and setting you’re putting them in, it will feel like you’re trying to shove a square peg in a round hole. Design characters based on your plot—their strengths, weaknesses, and goals and motivations must match the situations you’re putting them in just as they need to fit into their settings. Both First Draft in 30 Days and From First Draft to Finished Novel have chapters devoted to evaluating all of these things. Review these books for tips. Also, I highly recommend that you complete the Story Plan Checklist in From First Draft to Finished Novel (you can find one here.), which can really put the cohesion of your story in black and white perspective. Completing this checklist can be done in just a couple hours, which will keep you on your NaNoWriMo writing schedule.

5) Are you dealing with middle-of-the-book slump? You may need another story spark. A story spark is something intriguing that ignites a story scenario and carries it along toward fruition. A story has to have more than one of these sparks to sustain it. A story spark must infuse and re-infuse the story, and a new one must be injected at certain points in order to support the length and complexity of your story. Most novels up to 75,000 words have three story sparks: one for the beginning, one for the middle, and one for the ending. The beginning story spark sets up the conflict. The middle story spark (or possibly more than one middle story spark) complicates the situation. Finally, the ending story spark resolves the conflict and the situation.

Any “slump” or “sag” is a wake-up call that your deflated story is crying out for another spark to enliven it. Take what you’ve already developed with your initial spark and throw in some shocking, intriguing scenario that’ll have your characters running at full-speed again and will progress the story. Near the end of the book, you need another spark to enlighten the situation for the final course. The final spark doesn’t exist solely to enliven the plot, though it probably will inadvertently. Soon after the third spark, you’ll reach a point where all of your character and plot conflicts need to tie up logically.

6) There will be times that you’ll outline a book and even write one that doesn’t quite come together. The question at that point becomes, is/was this story ready to be written? You’ll know it’s not if you keep hitting roadblock after roadblock in trying to move forward. Set it aside. This will be much harder if you’re trying to complete the NaNoWriMo challenge, so save it as a last option. At times, a project will require years of shelf-time, but remember that you truly do have to revise your idea of the story. You’ll be surprised at how your mind will continue to work on a story when it’s on a low flame for a long period of time. If the story isn’t working, try to figure out what’s wrong. If you can’t come to firm conclusion as to why it’s not working, see if you can figure out what’s right about the story. Then tear away everything else and start from scratch with it.

http://www.karenwiesner.com