Coming to a Dead End

We have all been there. You are halfway through your work-in-progress (WIP). It was all going so well. The characters, the plot and all the elements that make a great novel were all cooperating, coming together and falling into place. Then all of the sudden you made a wrong turn and end up on a dead end street with no way out. The only way off a dead end street is to turn around and go back.

This is not to be confused with writer’s block. This is like a sub-paragraph, subsection A type of thing that has more to do with the structure of your novel rather than an inability to write.

The first thing to do at a dead end, is to step away from it for a prescribed period of time be it forty-eight hours or one week, but circle the date of the return on your calendar so it does not turn into six months (been there, done that). After a break, you will return with a fresh perspective and you can go back to square one; awful as it sounds, it has to be done.

Check the following:

• Is the theme/premise of your novel enough to sustain it? Is there enough meat in the plot and sub-plots to propel it to the 100k word finish line? Examine it critically (and honestly) and ask yourself if it would be better suited in novella form or short story.
• Do you know your character(s) as well as you should? What are their fears, motivations and feelings? What do they eat for breakfast? Are they night owls? Why do they act the way they do? Are their thoughts, feelings and actions consistent throughout? Do you have enough characters and sub-plots or too many?
• Have you tied up your loose ends too early? Your WIP should resemble an unfinished tapestry and not the orphan strands of yarn in your knitting basket that have absolutely no connection to each other. In the end, it should all come together.
• It would not hurt to have a few readers take a look and offer suggestions. Not your mother or your best friend but someone who can give you critical advice at this juncture.
• Have you done all your research? On your theme? Your setting? Time period? Do you know everything you need to know in order to write the story?
• Review or rewrite the outline of your WIP or prepare chapter summaries so you have a concrete plan and you can see what has happened and what needs to happen next.

If in the end, you have gone back to square one and exhausted everything and still arrive at the dead end, then it might be time to retire it to a drawer. Never regret it. Think of it as a learning experience.