Writing a Book to Find Your Message
“Basically, stop the thinking because the thinking needs to happen on the page.” —Steve Vannoy
Have you ever felt stuck while writing? Whether it’s a blog, essay, short story, or novel, sometimes we just feel stuck and can’t move forward. Steve Vannoy and I are here today to talk about how you can get unstuck and step back into your writing genius this year.
On today’s episode of “Authors Who Lead,” we talk honestly about why I felt stuck writing the third book in our fiction series and the ways I’m fixing it. We also discuss what it means to write fiction with purpose.
If you haven’t already heard the other three parts of “Authors Who Lead,” where Steve and I talk about our journey co-writing our Cinder Bottom fiction series, then check out Episode 186, Episode 193, and Episode 211.
Being Stuck
I’m confident that just about every author at some point feels stuck. I don’t believe in what most people call “writer’s block,” because we aren’t truly blocked. Just like a plumber can’t get “plumber’s block,” we aren’t blocked—we’re just temporarily stuck.
In those quiet moments alone in front of our computers, we may feel like we can’t move on. The first thing we need to do is figure out why we feel stuck. Whether you’re an author who outlines or one who “pantses” their stories, you will have times when writing is hard.
In my case, I finally figured out that my “stuck-ness” came from being bored or uninspired by my writing. It wasn’t that what I was writing was boring—it was just a hard time in my life. Our father, Smokey, by who the books were inspired, passed away during the writing of the third book. The emotions were hard to deal with, and I had even more of a desire for the book to be “good.” I had to remind myself that whether my readers find my book “good” is not up to me.
The second thing you may need to do is get some distance from your story. I took a short break to figure out why I was stuck and what to do. The third piece of advice is to “think on the page” instead of in your head and tell the best story you can at this moment. Now you can sit down and write, just like I’m going to step back into my story and find my way through it.
Click here to read/listen to the full podcast episode on the Authors Who Lead Podcast.
-Azul Terronez – Co-Author of the Adventure in Cinder Bottom Series