Plateau: [figurative noun use] a state of little or no change following a period of activity or progress.
This is what I faced coming into this week. I'd given my heroine this dark moment (although not THE black moment) and all this bad stuff had happened, and then b l a h. It was like somewhat cut the power cord to my book. I knew where I needed her to go, and even had some of the scenes written from that section. But how on EARTH to get her there? I aldo needed some time to pass (few months) and I toyed with how to do that and not lose pace.
Thankfully, with help from my crit partner and lots of prayer, I stepped off my plateau late last night. I only got 3 pages written...but I have my direction again. So I guess you know what I'll be doing tonight when I get home. :)
Q4U: How many of you have struggled with a plateau? What did you do to get off it?
We’re Engaged! | written by Tamela Hancock Murray
19 hours ago
11 comments:
Plunge!
Read! It always gets the juices flowing again for me.
patricia - that's exactly what i did. my first 2 pages were poo. but after i wrote 3 more, i went back and deleted the "plunge" portion and really liked what i came up with!
eileen...i hear ya. sometimes i've thrown my hands up (no, not the computer) and picked up a novel...
I have to agree with Eileen. Read! But I HATE plateaus like that. I have just pushed through one and know that I have another on the horizon.
Writing books is like math. It's all a big puzzle.
ooh, katie...you just compared my favorite thing to my least fav thing...math! yuck! :) sorry you've got another plateau on the horizon...that's got to be bad to know it's coming. mine snuck up on me.
I waste time blogging! :) No, seriously, I make myself write until I reach my word count every day, even if I have to write a bunch of garbage! Eventually the garbage starts to sound more palatable.
Ah, Jody, you beat me. I waste time READING blogs! Then after I read them, I can't think of anything new to blog about! And then I get so discouraged by all that I DON'T know (from all the wisdom on the blogs) that I have trouble getting even garbage onto the page of my wip. sigh.......
jody and sherrinda...making me laugh. i wonder how much time we actually do waste blogging? it's so fun...and addictive. i should change my profile to say blog addict instead of facebook addict.
Ha! I guess then, that I should change my profile from bookaholic to blogaholic!
I just force myself to write - even though it might be painful. Usually my characters get off the plateau on their own if I just promise to move my fingers. :) I'll get your chapter 14 to you tomorrow! I have a half day inservice - so I'll have time to critique. I'm excited to keep reading! :)
Congratulations on getting past the plateau. I've been there before and it's hard. Mostly I just try to make myself write SOMETHING, even if it's further in the story. And lots of times I'll read through the entire first part of the story up unto that point to get a better feel of where my character came from and how I want her to transition into the next part of her life.
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