When In Doubt, Blow Something Up!
When writers get “stuck” during the course of their work, they often call it something like “writer’s block”. And they’ll sit there and agonize (sometimes for months and even years, believe it or not) about how to get past a particularly troublesome point in their story.
People who have been listening to me pontificate about writing know that one of the things I repeatedly stress is that I do not suffer from “writer’s block.”
Am I lying? No. It’s the truth!
Am I some sort of weird inhuman creature? Also, no.
So then, how is this possible? How have I overcome an affliction that seems so common for writers young and old, new and experienced, published and unpublished?
I simply use one or more of some common, easy to implement strategies, that’s how. Some might call these “tricks” or “gimmicks”. I call them tools that are necessary in every writer’s toolbox.
So, today I want to talk about the strategy of when is doubt, “Blow Something Up!”
Or, as was put so poetically by Jamie Hyneman from Mythbusters …
Now, when I say “blow something up,” that can be taken literally or figuratively. It really depends on the story you are writing.
If you are writing an action spy thriller, it might mean that you literally “blow something up.” The good guy’s car during an escape. The pursuit helicopter. Whatever needs physically blown up in the moment.
But, if you are writing a romance story, “blowing something up,” might be more of a figurative sort of thing. Maybe the two main love birds have a misunderstanding that leads to some sort of emotional turmoil or falling out between them and requires the plot to progress so everything can be fixed and love will bloom once more.
If you’re writing a vampire novel, maybe you break a window and let the daylight stream in upon the hapless blood sucker (be he/she hero or villain).
What you are doing is, at its core, introducing some extremely catastrophic event that is somewhat plausible within the continuity of your story. This is what it essentially means to “blow things up” in your story.
Now, a word of warning. Unless you are writing a farcical story, as I said, the explosion you introduce (literal or figurative) has to be plausible. Not necessarily probable, mind you.
If you are writing a Sci-Fi Thriller, introducing an alien invasion is plausible. If you are writing a Teen Rom-Com, aliens coming down and wreaking havoc within the narrative is most likely NOT plausible. Although, it may be.
Plausibility of the catastrophic action you are implementing as a storytelling device is crucial. The reader has to look at what you just did and say to themselves, “Yeah … I’ll buy that!”
So, next time you are stuck in your story, try blowing something up!
In the future, I’ll be talking about other methods I use to get around the dreaded problem of writer’s block. All of which are either useful or fun or even both!
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