Currently Empty: $0.00
small, tactical, mildly humiliating
There's a moment in every draft where the scene won't move. You've outlined it, walked it, muttered it in the car. Nothing.
This is the chapter where I hand you the small, slightly humiliating tricks I use on myself when the scene refuses. None of them are graceful. All of them are effective. Some of them require you to write a worse version on purpose. Some require you to write the scene from a side character's perspective just to embarrass the main one. Some require a snack and a hard left turn. The point is not artistic. The point is movement. Stuck scenes are not artistic problems. They're momentum problems. Bribe the page with stakes, with bad choices, with someone bursting into the room with bad news. The grace gets added in revision.
The seven bribes (use in this order)
| Bribe | When to use |
|---|---|
| Write the worst version | When you're paralyzed by quality |
| Side-character POV | When the protagonist is bored |
| Bring in bad news | When nothing is happening |
| Cut the first paragraph | When the scene won't start |
| Pick a fight | When the scene is polite |
| Skip ahead, write the next one | When this scene isn't the problem |
| Stop and read for 20 minutes | When your tank is the problem |
Tonight's stuck-scene starter pack
- Write the worst possible version of the next paragraph. Don't fix it.
- Let a side character interrupt and complain for one page.
- Cut everything before the second sentence of the scene.
- Have someone arrive late with the wrong news.
- Move the scene to a different room. Different chair changes the energy.
Stuck scenes don't want grace. They want a snack, a side character, and bad news. Three out of three rescues a Tuesday.
— L.A. Walton, The Book Maven
From the Maven Catalog
- Toolkit — The Stuck Scene Toolkit
- eBook — 47 Tricks to Unstick Anything
- Planner — Scene-by-Scene Builder
- Master Course — The Block Breakers
Pick one bribe. Use it tonight. The scene doesn't have to be beautiful. It has to be unstuck.