Some of you know that I’ve added a page for writers on my Black Christian Fiction website: www.blackchristianfiction.com, asking writers to submit questions and I’ll answer them as time permits. I’ve received a question recently from Belva. She wants to know:

I get a good idea for a story, and begin to write. After the first paragraph I am stuck. What do you do when you are stuck?
Belva

Belva, when writing a novel, the first thing you need to know about is your characters. Make sure you’re writing about people you and your readers will get to know and love. Check out my blog archives dated 5/3/07 and 5/7/07. In these blog entries, I talk about character development. There is a fair amount of work involved, and this work should be completed before you even start writing your novel. Once you have a feel for the people, get to know them, it will be so much easier to write about them.

I could go on and on about what else to do when you’re stuck. You might want to skip the scene you’re working on and jump ahead and write a scene that’ll happen later on in the story. You can always fill in the stuff that happens between the scenes later on.

Some authors plot out their story, chapter by chapter, before they even begin writing the book. This outline helps them as they write their novels.

You could also talk it through with another writer friend or a critique partner or group. I blogged about critique groups in my entry dated 3/29/07. Sometimes when you meet with other writers, you can help one another overcome story obstacles.

And sometimes, you just need to put the story aside, let it rest for a day or so before going back to it. Sometimes, when you set the story aside, the ideas will come to you when you are not actively thinking about it. This has happened to me at times. I’ll be watering my flowers, or going inside the grocery store, when an idea hits me, and I know what I need to do to make the story work.

I hope my suggestions have helped you, Belva, and everybody else reading this blog entry!

Happy writing!

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com