Not Sure What Should Happen Next In Your Story?

not sure what should happen next in your story?

Embarrass your protagonist. Make them seem weak and vulnerable in some way.

Shoot someone. That always takes the reader by surprise. 

In relation, kidnap someone. Or, rather, make it seem to your protagonist like someone has been kidnapped. 

Have one of your side characters disappear or become unavailable for some reason. This will frustrate your protagonist.

Have someone kiss the wrong girl, boy, or person, especially if you’ve been setting up a romance angle. It’s annoying.

If this story involves parents, have them argue. Push the threat of divorce, even if you know it won’t ever happen. It’ll make your readers nervous.

Have someone frame your protagonist for a crime they didn’t commit. This could range from a dispute to a minor crime to a full-blown felony.

If this is a fantasy story involving magic or witchcraft, create a terrible accident that’s a direct result of their spell-casting. 

Injure your protagonist in some way, or push them into a treacherous scenario where they might not make it out alive. 

Have two side characters who are both close to the protagonist get into a literal fist-fight. This creates tension for the reader, especially if these characters are well-developed, because they won’t know who to root for.

Make your protagonist get lost somewhere (at night in the middle of town, in the woods, in someone else’s house, etc.) 

Involve a murder. It can be as in-depth and as important as you want it to be. 

Introduce a new character that seems to prey on your protagonist’s flaws and bring them out to light.

If it’s in-character, have one of your characters get drunk or take drugs. Show the fallout of that decision through your protagonist. 

Spread a rumor about your protagonist. 

If your protagonist is in high-school, create drama in the school atmosphere. A death of a student, even if your protagonist didn’t know them personally, changes the vibe. 

If your story involves children, have one of them do something dangerous (touch a hot stove, run out into the road, etc.) and show how the protagonist responds to this, even if the child isn’t related to them. 

In a fantasy story, toss out the idea of a rebellion or war between clans or villages (or whatever units you are working with). 

Add a scenario where your protagonist has to make a choice. We all have watched movies where we have screamed don’t go in there! at the top of our lungs at the main character. Make them go in there. 

Have your protagonist find something, even if they don’t understand the importance of it yet. A key, a document, an old stuffed animal, etc. 

Foreshadow later events in some way. (Need help? Ask me!)

Have your protagonist get involved in some sort of verbal altercation with someone else, even if they weren’t the one who started it. 

Let your protagonist get sick. No, but really, this happens in real life all the time and it’s rarely ever talked about in literature, unless it’s at its extremes. It could range from a common cold to pneumonia. Maybe they end up in the hospital because of it. Maybe they are unable to do that one thing (whatever that may be) because of it.

Have someone unexpected knock on your protagonist’s door. 

Introduce a character that takes immediate interest in your protagonist’s past, which might trigger a flashback.

Have your protagonist try to hide something from someone else and fail.

Formulate some sort of argument or dispute between your protagonist and their love interest to push them apart. 

Have your protagonist lose something of great value in their house and show their struggle to find it. This will frustrate the reader just as much as the protagonist.

Create a situation where your protagonist needs to sneak out in the middle of the night for some reason.

Prevent your character from getting home or to an important destination in some way (a car accident, a bad storm, flat tire, running out of gas, etc.)

45 Questions About Magic

Who has it?

Who can use it?

Where does it come from?

What does it go through?

Is it active? Passive? Both?

Is it tangible? Visible?

Can magic people sense magic?

Can non-magic people sense magic?

Can non-humans be or have magic?

Can objects be or have magic?

Can it be used by accident?

What are the consequences of using magic? Of not using it?

Do some things (eg causing injury, death, etc.) have greater consequences?

Does level/degree of use correlate to degree of consequences?

Does magic require a bargain (eg service to a god)?

Can someone lose their magic?

Can someone gain magic?

Can magic be transferred or stolen?

Is magic something to be turned on and off or is it always there?

Does a person have a limited amount of magic? Can it be replenished?

Does everyone’s magic manifest the same way?

Does everyone call upon their magic the same way?

Does magic require physical aids? Meditation?

Is strength innate or based on training? Can it change?

How is strength indicated?

Are there physical indicators of magic use?

Is there some sort of test to be allowed to use magic?

To show competency?

To show mastery?

To certify teaching?

Is magic tied to or antithetical to religion?

Must magic obey science?

Does magic operate the same way everywhere?

Does magic operate the same way on everyone/everything?

Is healing possible? Is it telekinetic? Time-based? Done by switching physical health?

Does magic require a sacrifice? Before or after? User’s or others’?

Is magic something a person is? Does? Uses?

How is magic conceptualized? Is that correct?

What can someone do with magic?

What can’t someone do with magic? Why?

What are ethical/moral lines that have been drawn regarding magic? How are they enforced?

Is belief necessary?

Can magic only be done at certain times or in certain places?

How do powerful magic users face consequences from the law?

Is magic something that people want to be?

Hey all! I made a wee self-editing guide that you can download for FREE on my website. It’s basically a mini-mini-version of my book The Complete Guide to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. If you’re stalled, overwhelmed, or don’t know where to start, The Pocket Guide to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers will give you a step-by-step overview of the self-editing process, beginning with the pre-editing planning stages, and moving through the story, scene, and sentence-level edit of your novel or short story.

The guide consists of 5 lil’ checklists to help you map out a revision plan and move forward with your story:

Pre-Editing Checklist Prepare yourself for the journey ahead

Story Editing Checklist Get a bird’s eye view on your plot and characters

Scene Editing Checklist Analyze and revise your scenes

Sentence Editing Checklist Polish your prose until it shines

Post-Editing Checklist Plan your next steps

Download your free self-editing pocket guide right here.

Hope this helps! xoxo

//////////////

The Literary Architect is a writing advice blog run by me, Bucket Siler. For more writing help, check out my Free Resource Library or get The Complete Guide to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. xoxo

Tips if you're struggling to write or are feeling discouraged!

Figure out where you write best! For example I found out that I can only really write and focus when I write on a desktop computer at a desk. I can write on a laptop but I succumb to distractions much easier and like having a larger screen. Maybe you do better with a laptop or even pen and paper.

Know what environment you write best in! I do my best work when its quiet and calm and inside. I cant focus with music or if someone is in the room watching a loud video or something. Maybe you do best listening to music or with someone to bounce ideas with. Maybe it's in your bed or on the couch or even outside. Move around and see what works best.

READ! I used to be a big reader in middle and high school until I graduated and went to college. I also worked full time and didnt want to waste my limited personal time reading. It was much easier to just watch a show on TV. So if you're like me it might take some time to get back into it but I promise it helps. I found it easier to get back into reading by finding people who write similar to my own writing and then branch out to other styles. I also found I really can only read hardcover books. Dont know why but the odds of me reading and finishing a book are higher when its hardcover. Reading makes writers better and is recommended by many authors such as Stephen King.

Don't believe you have to write every day! Just like the saying absence makes the heart grow fonder sometimes the best thing to do when you hit a wall is to just stop writing and take a rest. Do that thing all writers love and just think about your story or don't! Taking time away from your story can help you come back to it refreshed and excited to start again.

Don't beat yourself up for not writing large chunks of story every time. If all you can write is a paragraph then all you can write is a paragraph. Some days you may be able to pop out 10 pages others barely a page. All that matters is you sat down and wrote something.

Stop discouraging yourself for choosing yourself over writing. Chances are you arent a writer full time and have to work and go to school. Maybe you have kids or obligations that take time and energy. Life happens and it takes a lot out of you. If writing is making you stressed or even depressed similar to a normal job then stop. Take the time you need to feel better and come back to it when you're ready. Writing is HARD. And it takes a lot more effort and energy then most people think. Writing should be a fun and exciting thing but if you arent getting anything positive from it then its okay to stop and take care of yourself.

Encourage yourself and other writers! We're all in the same boat and we're all evolving and getting better at the art. Not everyone has supportive friends and family to cheer them on and give encouraging feedback. Help each other out and let someone know if you like their work. It may be what they need to keep on going and improving.

Writing can be so easy when the muse kisses you and you write and write and forget the world around you. But a lot times you don’t have the luxury to wait for the muse to come kiss you and you still have to write. Here are some of the things I do to motivate myself to do what has to be done.

How to motivate myself to write more

The 100 Words Challenge

Set yourself a specific amount of words that you must write every day. 100 words doesn’t sound like that much, but even if you only write them every day and not anything more you still wrote 3,650 words that year. Better than nothing and definitely helps to get back into writing, because it motivates you to write even more and helps writing on a schedule.

+ it also works with a specific amount of time

The Inspirational Jar

Grab some pieces of paper and write down prompts you saw on the internet, song lyrics you like, characters you like to write about, quotes from books or movies, or just random words or situations. Fold them and put them into a jar or a box. Now you can just open it and grab one of the papers which you use as the basis for your writing that day. It’s great for getting back into writing and finding your own writing style through different forms of writing and different topics.

+ doesn’t have to be a real story, try other forms of writing, like a poem, a stream of consciousness, fanfiction, dialogue only, texting only, a retelling, no dialogue at all, a song, a diary entry, a character description,…

+ try to spice things up by using two or more inspirational slips of paper

Set a writing time

By setting a specific writing time you can trick your mind to shift easier into the mindset you need to write. You can write just after waking up or right before going to bed or somewhere in the middle. Try it out and find out what works best for you.

Block your phone/laptop

The luxury of having the world at your finger tips is great but it’s also distracting. Use apps (like Forest or Selfcontrol) to block your phone for the time you need to write. Or use something like Cold Turkey Writer so you have to write a specific amount of words or time before you can use your computer again.

Choose a writing place

Where do you write your best works? Choose a specific place to become your writing place, so you can trick your mind (like with the writing time) to get into the right mindset.

+ switch it up from time to time and go somewhere else. Go to a library, a coffee shop or a park to get fresh ideas and then go back to your routine

Music

Try to find music that stimulates your brain to concentrate more on writing or use music that fits the scene you’re about to write to get the right mindset. Music is great to feel like you are in a specific situation or have specific feelings - that’s why it’s great to have a soundtrack to your stories (and it also motivates you to finish it, so someone can buy the rights and make a movie out of it and use your Soundtrack - or is that just me?).

Ask a friend

Ask a friend, a family member or someone else to give you a setting, a word or a character that you try to incorporate into your already existing story or write something short and new.

Exercise

When you’re stuck and suffering from writer’s block with a scene, just stop and go out and work out or do a couple exercises at home. It clears your mind and you feel better after, so that you can sit down again and concentrate. And exercising is also a great opportunity to think your story through and work on solving existing problems.

Make a calendar

Write down whenever you wrote something in a calendar or use a habit tracker. It makes it easier to keep track on what you achieved so far and where you can still improve.

Reward yourself

Don’t punish yourself if you haven’t wrote in a long time or didn’t finish on time. Rewarding yourself is much more efficient. Choose some form of reward (when I write today I can… watch the new episode of my favourite show after, call my friends and go out, order a pizza, buy a new books, etc.) and stick to it. Even if it is a really small reward, getting to recieve it will fill you with joy and pride and makes it more likely for you to do it again.

I hope this helps everyone who struggles to motivate themselve to write. Good luck to you all!

Check out my side blog for more advice and writing prompts: creativepromptsforwriting

- Jana