It happens to everybody. You start writing a novel, you tell everyone, you're so excited--and then you reach that roadblock. You're bored, your characters are stuck in a rut, and nothing is going the way you imagined it would. What do you do? Give up?
Don't give up! The world could be dying for that creation, and chances are if you put it down you'll never pick it up again. Plow through. Even if it's the worst piece of writing you've ever done, you just have to keep going through it. Even if you despise it, keep writing.
But if you can't bring yourself to keep going on the path you're going, change it up. Kill off a character, start up a romance, put some mystery, change something. Make it different, interesting. Keep yourself going. If you have a plan and it's not working, throw it out! Wing it! Because maybe your unplanned twists and turns will be what makes you stand out. What makes you sell.
I don't plan. Planning makes me hit a snag very fast. It's then that I have to throw the plan out the window and just go for it. When I decided that plans were killing me, I decided to not do them at all. My only exception is a mystery I'm currently writing--that way, the culprit doesn't show up out of the blue.
If you didn't plan, don't know how to put a twist in, and are still stuck, then maybe it is time to put it aside. If the idea is good enough, trash the rest and try again. If you decided you hated the idea, then try something else. But only do this as a last resort--if nothing is working, and if it all feels wrong. Otherwise, just try and work with it.
Another way is to join a writers' website, post your chapters and get readers who will be terribly disappointed if you stopped and said, "I hate this idea." They'll push you to keep going, and keep going you will.
I hope if you experience writers' block that you'll try my ways. Please tell me if they worked!
