#Good luck! I hope you get unstuck - and feel free to ramble at me!

[erisenyo]

Hello! You're like, the only author on ao3 who writes their stories in advance and who I follow, so excuse my whining here, please. Does it ever happen to you that you have a (conversation about the Thing here) in the first draft, and you just can't get around it? Because I'm feeling it very much myself and this is the first time I'm not doing chapter by chapter chaos and... well, I am missing the comments and losing the spirit. This convo is the base of all the other missing stuff, even if I try to move on, I'm still practically writing that one and. It shuts me down. Any ideas? Sorry for bothering you!

Hello anon!

So if I'm understanding your question right (and definitely let me know if I'm not!), you're asking how to plow through a stuck scene without the motivation and inspiration from the comments of posting as you go.

Which is a real struggle that I very much sympathize with! And I potentially have two answers, depending on if it's the stuckness that's getting you, or more the feedback side of things.

And in typical me-style, this answer is long, so I am putting it below a cut lol

On being stuck on a scene--if I truly can't get past it, it seems bogged down and boring and I'm just not excited for it anymore, I have a few strategies:

My tried and true is to go back 10ish lines or a few paragraphs before, even to the start of the scene, because a lot of times what I'm getting stuck on is that the scene needs a different narrative framing or lead-in (usually, for me, just starting more in the middle of things instead of giving all the exhaustive lead-in)

Sometimes a scene/convo flows better for me if I set it in a different location, between a different mix of people, or if I put some sort of action around it (a conversation between Sokka and Zuko about something purely plot-based can layer in lots of fun characterization if suddenly it's occurring while Zuko is trying to do work and Sokka is trying to get him to eat lunch at the same time)

A POV switch! Sometimes my current narrator is just the wrong one for this scene, because they know too much or not enough (I usually prefer the narrator who knows the least, so they can be learning along with the reader)

Sometimes I realize I don't actually need the scene, I just need to have the characters to reference or react to it after, and as long as I know that ABC happened I don't actually have to write it all out. (This can help make the pacing feel faster, too, and sometimes it feels easier and more interesting to fold the references and reactions into later scenes than to actually write it all out)

Specifically for exposition or something that's feeling infodumpy, finding ways to weave the information into other scenes can be really helpful. When I wrote To Open Every Door I worked a LOT at this, and I essentially ended up sketching out a chapter, having a list of like 10 or 15 or however many things I needed to convey by the end of the chapter (to establish worldbuilding, the status of interpersonal relationships, background, whatever), and then going through my rough draft and finding ways to drop those pieces into a character's reactions and thoughts, to fold them into dialogue, to have OCs saying things, basically weaving the exposition across the chapter instead of delivering it all at once

Talking it out! Literally just articulating what feels off or weird about a scene to someone (or like, your cat, or yourself) often helps me narrow in on what needs fixing, or start to form an idea on how to make it flow better (Thanks Ash lol, your support is invaluable even when you insist you did nothing)

This one is kind of silly, but...try working in a different format! I write in Word, but I plan out my outlines in a table, and brainstorm with bullets, and when I'm stuck I often break out Excel. Seeing the information laid out differently on the page helps me quite literally see it differently in a way that can help me think about it differently, too

And if at the end of all that I'm still stick...do I really need the scene? If so, why? What work is the scene doing (emotional, plot, characterization, worldbuilding, etc.)? A lot of times, understanding the purpose of the scene helps me figure out how best to convey the info, whether its another scene, a different version of the scene I'm stick on, or by refocusing the scene around some other element that's more exciting (like switching the plot into the background behind some characterization or interpersonal moment, or vice versa)

That was a lot! But if what's really got you losing momentum is the lack of feedback--that's totally understandable too! Writing can be a lonely endeavor, so some things I do...

Find a buddy to share it with, whether a hype man or a listening ear! Even if it's just on anon, feeding off of someone else's reactions and excitement can help me get excited and enthusiastic too

Did your commenters speculate and get excited for what was next in a way you found inspiring? Is there a way to replicate that by talking at a higher level about what you're writing so that people can get hyped for the scenario or talk about how it could go, or just add tags to a post that generate energy?

You can post updates along the way, like lines you're excited about or little scene snippets, or just talking about the fic in the tags where it fits. It can be a way to get little bits of feedback and engagement along the way (Meesh always with the eagle eye for my tags whenever I'm rambling about fics haha)

Share the things you're excited about! Whether it's a particular scene, a character dynamic, a trope, a bit of worldbuilding--it's a great way to find people who will get excited along with you, and it also helps me to focus on what got me wanting to write the fic in the first place. Sometimes I'm not the most enthused about writing another post-canon get-together requiring a bunch of setup exposition, but then I think about how fun the Zuko-Mai bestie dynamic will be, or the ridiculous angst of the boys pining for that one night stand they had at that masquerade that they don't realize is each other, and I get enthused all over again haha

And relatedly--hone in on what excites you about the story! Even if you don't share it, is there a scene you can't wait for? A particular interpersonal dynamic you can't get enough of? A twist or reveal you can't wait to share? Focusing on those exciting bits can help me keep my enthusiasm going

Mix up where you write--I rotate between writing on my commute, in my house in various locations, and in a coffee shop basically depending on how social I am feeling on a given day. If you're feeling a bit alone in the writing, maybe it would help to write in a library or cafe or park, or if you're feeling distracted maybe you need a quieter place, or pure just change of setting in general!

Maybe you post it! For me I need to write everything out beforehand, because the serialized posting format makes me hate writing in all ways, and also I get a lot of ideas as I go, where my first drafts very truly are working drafts and it's not uncommon for me to pause in the middle of like, Ch 12 to go back to Ch 2 to lay the groundwork for a scene, and then to Ch 5 to add the setup for a joke I'll land in Ch 14. (Or for me to realize as I edit that I included scenes with absolutely no follow-up that I can now add haha). But that approach isn't for everyone, and maybe you write a few chapters at a time and post them week to week, or maybe you post what you have now to get through this scene and then go back to writing all the rest out. Just cause you started thinking you'll write it all first doesn't mean you have to stick with it if it's not working and something about posting would shake you out of it!

That was...probably way more ideas than you wanted or needed, but let me know if any of them help! I'm crossing my fingers for you!