Writer's Block

 Writer's block...the struggle is real! And I'm just coming off a case of it. First, the background. With the first two American Revolution books done and out, I have been working on book three, "American Dawn." I have my first speaking gig on December 11 at the Blue Earth County Library, which means I have to have it done by mid-November. First draft. Second draft. Beta readers do their thing. Third draft. Polish. Proof-read. Publish. 

Welp- I'm not sure if I've put those thoughts together in one place until just now and I'm even less sure if it was a good idea for my fragile psyche. Yikes!

Anyway, that's what I have to do. All of that wrapped around a full-time job and having a life outside of writing.

The other key thing to know is that I'm 90% a "Plotter" when I write. I have my outline in front of me telling me what to write about in each successive chapter. And writing chapter two is followed by writing chapter three and so on. Everything MUST be done in order!

Then in late June, I hit the roadblock known as writer's block. I reached a key point, where a massive plot point come to it's conclusion and it impacts the end of the trilogy from there. Kinda important...and I couldn't do it. I had no idea how to make a couple of things fit and was stopped dead.

I tried letting it simmer for a while...nothing. I tried forcing myself to write...nothing. I went back and edited some of the earlier chapters in hopes of inspiration...nothing. Wait. Maybe something! One of my own characters saved me!

One of the kids says "Let's focus on what we can do, not on what we can't do." Damn kids! So I wrote, gasp, out of sequence! I've never done such a thing, but it was the only writing I could actually do. I wrote this big action scene that comes several chapters later than where I was on my outline. 

It worked! Not only did it feel good to write new words again, what I wrote gave me a blueprint for the stuff immediately before what I wrote, thus breaking the writers' block. It felt good on several levels and now I can get back to my comfortable, sequential writing. And get everything done by Thanksgiving. I hope.

Part of what I wrote- from American Dawn. Tom (one of our heroes) is in a fistfight with the super evil Fynn Crosby.  

Tom’s head sank again, his body going limp. Fynn was right, he couldn’t beat him. Fynn continued to bait Tom, “You and your sad little rebellion are done. Your little girls will get the chance to hang right next to you.” He stepped towards Tom to press his attack.

Tom had never tasted adrenaline before. His head swam, not just from Fynn’s blows, but from the realization of what he’d said. A bitter, metallic taste filled his mouth, like he was chewing aluminum foil. His head stopped hurting. More correctly, he stopped feeling the pain. He stopped feeling anything.