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I finally figured out how to get past my own boring first drafts
For years, my writing process was to stare at a blank page until I had a perfect first line, then try to write the whole story from start to finish. I'd get stuck after maybe 200 words and give up. About six months ago, I read a blog post that said to just write the middle scene first, the one you can see most clearly in your head. So now, I open a new document and immediately write something like 'the detective finds the locket in the old clock' without any setup. I just vomit out that one scene with all its messy details. It's ugly, but it gives me something real to work with and build around. I wrote three whole short stories last month using this trick, which is more than I finished all last year. Has anyone else found that skipping the beginning entirely helps you actually finish things?
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bennett.harper11d agoMost Upvoted
Funny, I've always found that the middle is where I get stuck too. I like @the_susan's idea of a walk, but for me, it's making a cup of tea and just writing the next line, even if it's bad. The trick is to keep your hands moving.
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