Like painting yourself into a corner – but with words
Has this ever happened to you? You were writing, chugging away, words flowing and the story nicely coming along. And then, suddenly, you found yourself stuck. It hadn’t worked quite as you thought it would. Characters and situations are in a bind and you have no idea where to go next.
Whether this occurs working on the actual story – or in the outline that you are plotting – it can be really frustrating. That’s because you have written yourself into a corner.
This is akin to painting yourself into a corner while working on a floor. You can’t go anywhere and are trapped until the paint dries.
But like that analogy, getting out of a corner you’ve written yourself into also often requires the “paint” to dry.
Rome wasn’t built in a day
One of the biggest problems with writing yourself into a corner is that it feels unpleasant, creates a sensation of being stuck, and can also be discouraging.
What’s more, it tends to appear to have no solution – no way out.
If you immediately, upon realizing that you have done this, attempt to get out – odds are it will be messy. Like a floor of wet paint, leaving the corner before it dries will just spread it around in an unhelpful manner.
How does this apply to words? Writing yourself into a corner appears to have no solution. As you turn, you are faced with obstacles all around, preventing your egress. If you have been making great strides and a lot of progress – this can be particularly frustrating.
But remember – Rome wasn’t built in a day. You can take some time to let the paint dry. Or, leaving the analogy behind, you can refocus, pause, reflect, and figure out how you wrote yourself into that corner.
Often, it’s just not obvious. This is why it’s particularly infuriating.
Unlike writer’s block – and being unable to craft words at all for one reason or another – this involves an unexpected stoppage mid-work. That interruption of flow is considerably different from the inability to being able to flow at all.
Nobody puts baby in the corner
How have I gotten out of a corner I wrote myself into? Here are some of the steps I’ve taken to address this.
Pause, reflect, breathe
There is a certain level of anxiety that comes from an interrupted flow. It was all coming along, I knew what I was writing – and then, whoa, something went terribly, terribly wrong! The plot stopped making sense, perhaps a character did something that they normally wouldn’t, or maybe the location stopped working – or some combo of all of these. The logic is out the window and you find yourself written into a corner.
Working to get out of there – right as you realize the problem – is likely going to increase your frustration. Hence, pause, reflect, breathe.
The reason for the order above is this: You realize that you’ve written yourself into a corner. Crap. Before you do anything at all, pause.
My immediate reaction tends to be one of I gotta figure this out RIGHT NOW. But if I wrote myself into a corner, that’s not likely to be helpful. Thus, I need to pause.
Reflect. This may tell you HOW you did this. But odds are, it will raise more questions than it answers. That, at least, has been my experience.
Which is why you need to breathe. This will help you calm and center – rather than get even more frustrated about writing yourself into the corner that you did.
Step back
Yes, this might mean you step further into the corner, away from the paint, metaphorically speaking.
But stepping back will provide you with a more panoramic view of what you have composed. You will see all the elements of the work you were doing.
That might show you where it went wrong. And it might now. But even if it does – that doesn’t mean you will be able to fix it then and there.
Step away from the corner
Okay, you need to let the paint on the floor dry so that you can step away from the corner.
This can be frustrating when you want to keep going. But since you wrote yourself into the corner, you can’t. And that just makes it worse.
Thus, you need to step away. Take a break, and allow yourself to move away, possibly literally. Get off the computer/set down the notebook and go get a drink. Take a walk. Paint another room. Do something else to reset your brain.
How long do you need? I can’t tell you. It depends on how you got to where you are and what it takes to figure out solutions for that.
Revisit the problem
After a pause – an hour, a day, however long you choose to step away – revisit your work. Time often provides clarity that lacks in the moment.
What’s more, you might find you didn’t so much write yourself into a corner as you took a wrong turn, left out a detail, or made a much smaller error than you thought.
However – you may need to abandon what you did and start anew. Or go back further than you’d desire to alter the course you took with your writing.
There may be one other consideration here.
Get help
You might not be able to see how you got into that place. Thus, it might do you some good to seek help from another writer, a friend, or someone who knows what you are working on.
For example – I am fairly certain, more than once, someone posted about a corner they wrote themselves into on one of the Facebook groups I am in, seeking advice. Even if you don’t take what others present you – it might just knock something loose to get the creative juices flowing more freely.
I have found helping someone out of their corner can also improve my creative flow.
Everyone writes themselves into a corner
I believe that everyone writes themselves into a corner from time to time. Ideas don’t always reach full clarity immediately – and sometimes you inadvertently get ahead of yourself.
Don’t panic. And certainly don’t berate yourself. Follow the suggested steps and a solution will present itself. Be patient and be kind to yourself.
Remember – this is your work. You create out of joy and passion. So even when you write yourself into a corner you can and will write yourself out of it, too.
Creative flow rocks, right?
Thank you for being part of my ongoing journey, for joining me, and for inspiring me and my craft.
This is the one-hundred and seventeenth article exploring the ongoing creative process. Please take a moment to check out the collection of my published works, which can be found here.
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