So I'm Stuck!!!

First the idea comes then a picture of what that idea would look like. From that picture comes the description of the very beginning of a new story.

I love writing the beginning of stories! It is when I get to the middle or end that I usually have problems. I get stuck! I want to finish the story, but I don't know where to go. I don't have a vision.

Then in the back of my mind I hear, If you had started out with an outline... I know, I know! I really don't like outlining, never have. Some of my story ideas are written in an outline form because it all came to me at the same time. However I don't have the urge to work on them like I do the others. I know exactly how it is all going to turn out! It is like reading the same story over and over again.

When I do get to the middle/end of a story I have a hard time ending. Where is the end? How do I close the book?

Gail Carson Levine wrote a terrific book on writing called Writing Magic. In her chapter on being stuck she suggests not getting worked up about this but simply taking your mind off it. Write what you are stuck about it the form of a question on a post it and stick it on your bedroom door or wherever you will see it often. The main part of your brain might not be thinking about your story but in the back your brain knows that you want an answer. So it will continue to think, looking for the solution to your problem. For me this works. Sometimes it takes months and in one case a year but then sometimes I get my answer the very next day. Usually it is something I've heard or seen, once it was something I smelled! :)

This is what makes writing fun, frustrating, and rewarding.

Also just sitting peeling potatoes or washing dishes, something that is simple and repeats itself gets the mind thinking on the important things, like writing! :) It maybe good to have a notebook and pen on hand to jot things down. I find myself running upstairs and jotting something down after I've finished something repetitive.

I was really just wondering if my readers ever get stuck in writing their stories and what they do to help themselves get unstuck?