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As writers, we’re all familiar with the struggle of keeping the words coming. We encounter roadblocks and challenges from all directions: whether from our real-life commitments, writer’s block, or from the eternal battle with self-doubt. Knowing how to keep the words coming is crucial for meeting your writing goals and for maintaining your confidence!
In this article, YA and romantasy author Bea Fitzgerald shares five ways to keep the words coming, so you can effectively skirt around the roadblocks that stall your writing progress. With these five writing tips, you’ll learn how to keep up the momentum and get the words rolling again in no time.
As well as coaching our writers at The Novelry, Bea Fitzgerald is a Sunday Times bestselling, award-winning author. Her debut novel, Girl, Goddess, Queen, was awarded the Fantasy Romantic Novel Award at the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s RNAs, and her second Young Adult book, The End Crowns All, a sapphic reimagining of the Trojan War, was published in 2024 by Penguin. Bea’s first book for adults, Then Things Went Dark, will similarly be published in 2024.
When she’s not writing, she’s entertaining her followers on TikTok and Instagram with her mythology-themed comedy account @chaosonolympus. Read on to learn Bea’s top tips for five ways to keep the words coming, whatever the setback.
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You may know this feeling: you’re writing, the words are flowing, my god, you’re a genius, the next literary great, nothing can stop you now except— Oh! What’s this? A stumble in the path of your blank page. That rhythm you once had has vanished, and now you can’t see the road ahead for this one immediate issue right in front of you.
Well, here’s some advice to keep the words coming and stop those pesky bumps becoming full writers’ blocks.
1. Make it a problem for future you
This might just sound like putting off a problem, but if you hit a bump in the road, consider stepping around it and coming back later. You may find that when you get to the end of your chapter, or even your draft, that what once felt like an impenetrable mound is barely a speck on the ground—and one you can easily step over.
You could use this for any manner of problems. Not sure how to wrap up a scene? Need a witty joke you just can’t think of right now? A nickname you feel like you’re wasting time trying to figure out? May I introduce you to:
- [insert scene end here]
- [witty joke]
- [nickname]
Move on from the problem, go back to what’s working, and come back later.
It’s so much easier to fix what’s on the page than create it in the first place.
There are a range of ways to flag these to yourself for later—you might highlight the text so you can’t miss it, or use asterisks, or if it’s a name you might sub in ‘xx’ so you can find and replace at a later point. But my advice is to try to make sure it’s something you don’t use anywhere else—which is why square brackets are my personal favorites—so that you can easily use the search and find tools in your writing software to go in and fix those bumps later.
2. Lean into your strengths
If there’s something that’s making you stop and think more than you’d like, interrupting whatever it is you’re trying to get down on the page while the inspiration has its hold on you, try stripping back whatever isn’t working and lean into what is. You can strengthen the rest once it’s all down on the page.
For example, I’m currently working on my first round of edits on my latest YA book. I have a scene where my two main characters are having an argument and I really love so much about it: the passion, the tension thrumming between them, and the scenic, cinemagraphic setting. The only issue? Both my agent and editor basically said, ‘I don’t really understand why they’re arguing.’
Dialogue is one of my strengths, and where I find most of my flow. So while I wanted to keep the bones of the original chapter, I really wanted to drill into what exactly each character was saying and how it led to each response. But I kept hesitating, trying to think of a new way of parsing ‘said angrily’ or ‘breathed heavily.’ So, I determined to focus on the dialogue—it doesn’t matter if I go back later and fix the seven ‘yell’s in a row, so long as the part that’s drawing the reader through the passage is fixed first. You might find your scenery is flowing, or the emotional internal monologue. And while it is coming easily, nurture that. You can cut it back and add in other aspects later, but enjoy the part where it all feels natural. Treasure the flow!
3. Jot your scene down in bullet points
No matter how well you plan, there will always come a point when you’re in the weeds of your novel and you don’t really know where to go from here, even if you have an idea of the end point. It might be helpful to jot down what you need to happen in this scene in bullet points.
This might be a list of the scenes in this chapter, topics you need your characters to mention in dialogue, information you need to be revealed or the way each character in your book feels at this moment in time. Laying out the very fine bones of the chapter will help you fill them in as you come to write.
Top tip: I try to do this whenever I finish writing. I write some notes of what I want to happen in the next part into my document itself, so that when I come back to the book the next day, my outline is waiting for me with the fresh ideas I had while writing it.
4. Talk to a friend—or voice-note yourself
Perhaps, like me, your instinct when you’re stuck is to open a document or grab a pen and paper and scrawl ideas to try to workshop the problem. But sometimes when the problem is writing, finding a solution that doesn’t involve writing can be helpful.
If you write with friends, you can try discussing your problem with them. Or try speaking about it with a partner or friend—often the best solutions come from people who aren’t writers and can help you see the book with new eyes.
You can also try voice-noting yourself—give your outline aloud and see if saying it or listening to it helps fill in a gap. If you have a problem, try explaining it as though to someone else. For example, you might say ‘I need this to happen but I need the stakes to be higher, so I thought about doing this but then this would happen... Unless!’ and find that saying it aloud leads to another thought that gives you the solution.
5. Take a break! But a small one!
If you have actual proper writer’s block, then taking a break from your manuscript is a great idea. But if you’re just struggling with getting from A to B, consider doing the washing up or making a cup of tea and letting the cogs of your brain turn while you’re otherwise occupied.
Sometimes returning to the same blank page makes it fill with possibilities.
As you can see, most of these points have the same thing in common: it does not have to be perfect, it just has to be on the page. It’s easier to fix a problem when it’s already down on the paper, so do feel free to write something you feel lukewarm about if it helps you get back to the part you’re loving. Sometimes those patches you apply to bridge your manuscript will end up being your favorite parts of the novel!
For more tips on writing and editing your novel, join us on a creative writing course at The Novelry today. Sign up for courses, coaching and a community from the world’s top-rated writing school.
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