It’s March and some of us are working hard to get words on the page before summer comes (or school gets out.) I asked my fellow Winged Pen writers to describe a favorite writing technique or a trusty stand-by that they use regularly.

• Sketch. Use a “marker” for the parts you don’t know. Get whatever you’ve got onto the page and use [add tech here] or [something] or [named emotion] to get over the sticky parts. Halli uses “something” to get the kind of mood or action she feels needs to go there even though she’s not exactly sure what that will be. For example: “Jorge Luis did something really funny behind Dawson’s back.”

• Check Your Motivations. Richelle: “When I’m stuck, it’s usually because I don’t know why a character would do what I’m trying to have them do, or I don’t know how they would react to the situation I’ve put them in. So my go-to is a quick character study free write — why is XX acting this way? Or why would XX do this now?–and then try to answer the question with the character’s background. Sometimes I realize that I have to go a different direction than I’d planned, but most often, I realize I just haven’t thought through things enough. The character sketch gives me the chance to do that.”

• Stop. Reverse That. Laurel:Sometimes you have everything you need for a great story, but it’s backwards. This Dr. Who-inspired technique helps with character motivations. If your hero won’t attack the dragon, try forbidding him or her from attacking. Or swap roles among your characters. Anything that shakes things up can shake a story loose.

• Brainstorm with a partner. One of Jessica’s best tricks is to schedule a long-distance car trip. “It’s amazing what I can accomplish when I have a prisoner, I mean husband, to brainstorm with for hours on end.”

Don’t be fooled when you get that “you’re never going to pull this off” feeling (or whatever your inner editor’s favorite taunt is.) Panicky feelings mean you are at the top of the roller-coaster. Don’t stop now: hang on tight! Or use your five senses to get yourself back on track:

• Use your senses. Michelle suggests taking a smell break to clear your mind. Peel an orange or lemon, essential oils, something to reset the brain.

• Color code. If you don’t have a captive audience, try freewriting about your story. If that doesn’t work, try reviewing your notes (or your story text) with colored pencils or highlighters. Coloring can reset the brain.

If none of these tips do it for you, check out our Self-Care for Writers post. Happy Writing!

Resources:

Libbie Hawker’s Take Off Your Pants suggests sketches of action, dialogue or exposition before launching into a full scene.

Angela Ackerman’s and Becca Puglisi’s The Positive Trait Thesaurus can help with missing plot points as well as motivations and emotions. Laurel: Examples listed under the DIPLOMATIC entry gave me a great list of prompts for scene sketches. I used color-coding to sort them roughly into Act 1, Act 2, or Act 3. Then I just pick one and start sketching.

For more craft advice on writing middle grade or young adult fiction head to our Master Your Craft page where you’ll find dozens of more posts to choose from!

LAUREL DECHER writes stories about all things whimsical, vegetable, or musical. Her debut middle grade, TROUBLE WITH PARSNIPS, is a fairy tale about the magic of speaking up.