First Sentences, Last Sentences, and Favorite Scenes - Getting unstuck

We all feel stuck from time to time. If I'm doing something entirely fresh, I tend to revel in the freedom and easily slip into flow. (But I know, this is the most frustrating time for some people.) My difficulties come when I either have an obligatory scene or I need to make major revisions — often, creating a new take on an idea.

The usual fix comes from a toolbox of techniques that may include answering questions I have at hand or finding good models in other people's work or writing dialogue – only scenes that will never be used in the final work.

Three techniques I've used recently have among the best success rates for me.

Write a first sentence.

I found this to be invaluable when I found several holes in a script I'd completed. It was overwhelming for me to look and see that I had six new scenes to write, none of which were immediately inspiring. I set a timer for 30 minutes, sat down, and wrote just the first sentences for each scene. Then I walked away from the project until the next day. As it turned out, that was a highly productive choice. I actually finished two of those scenes the next day, and I had all of them in good shape by the end of the week. There was something about having a starting point that made a difference.

So, step one was writing the first sentence. Step two was taking on the scene the next day. Note: writers often labor over getting first sentences exactly right. They do a lot of work within the story and keep readers engaged, so they're essential. Such perfect first sentences were not cranked out by me in the half hour session. In fact, none of the first sentences I created survived to the final draft. They weren't created for my readers. They were created as cues for me (especially for my muse). And they did their job.

Write a last sentence.

I've heard this is how John Irving does his work. For me it's a challenge most of the time. But for work that has already resulted in a draft, I can often imagine a good last sentence. In the most recent case, I actually set my timer for 45 minutes and made notes about what I was trying to accomplish. I reflected on possible themes for the whole work. I then forced myself to write three different last sentences that were as good as I could make them. They were decent, not wonderful. I took bits from two of them, and tried a new combination. I polished until it felt good to read the sentence out loud.

By then, my timer had rung, but I was stepping away in good shape. The next day, I was able to rough out the last scene of the story, and that steered my decision on a theme and provided a basis for a successful rewrite of the full work.

Write a favorite scene.

Sometimes you just have to eat dessert first. I was lucky with one project that I had an idea in mind that had helped to inspire the whole work. Often, I'll use my desire to get to that scene to motivate me to create the intervening pages. In this case, those in between scenes felt burdensome and made me dislike the project. I really had nothing to lose in jumping forward, and it worked. Knowing that scene in more detail made me eager to put hints and story turns in (some that I had not previously imagined). That made filling out those pages in between more fun.

I hope one of these tools will be useful for you, but let me go meta on this. The techniques I used were ones I already had had success with. The reason I remembered them and had them available for use was because I’d collected them over time. I continue to create new approaches (most recently, a template for creating of sentences and questions to ask) that add to my toolbox, but I’m most likely to find a reliable one and use it. You can do that, too. As you solve writing problems, document how you did so. Create tools that are ready-to-use so you can avoid losing momentum on a story.