The Power of Now

It’s a cocky thing to say, but I’ll say it:

I rarely get stuck when I’m writing.

(Notice I didn’t say ‘never.’)

If I feel slightly stuck, here’s what I do:

I start writing down everything my character is feeling in the moment, in the “now” of that character’s situation.

If the character isn’t feeling anything, I’ve got problems.

If that’s the case, I probably don’t have a story. At least, a very good one.

However …

If I can identify what my character is feeling, then I know what they are going to do based on those attitudes and emotions.

If the moment is neutral, la-dee-dah, it’s probably not a scene or a moment that belongs in the book.

If the characters on the page aren’t feeling something, readers will snooze—right?

We want to be with our characters as they grapple with tricky choices, high-stakes situations.

It never hurts to make sure your character either has a lot to lose or a lot to gain by clear, sharp choices. The reader’s brain automatically engages. That’s investment. That’s pages turning. 

A story is a succession of motivations and reactions.

That’s a Dwight Swain line from Techniques of the Selling Writer.

The whole chapter “Plain Facts About Feelings” is gold. 

“If your reader doesn’t judge, count on it that the focal character is too bland and innocuous and uncommitted to be worth writing about,” writes Swain. “Without some character of whom he can approve or disapprove, in varying degree, your reader will have no stimulus to feeling. Without feeling, he won’t care what happens in your story. If he doesn’t care, he stops reading. And you’re dead.”

Give your character opinions, attitudes, a sharp and clear orientation to the world. Swain calls it a compass.

Why does anyone do anything? In the regular course of life—there is a reason we do everything. Why we go to work (or not). Why we read blogs by writers who think they know what they are talking about (or not). Why we hike across Colorado (or not). Why we go base jumping off a cliff in a flying body suit (or in my case, not).

There’s motivation behind every action.

Of course, we don’t want regular life in a novel. Readers want the irregular days. I’d go out on a limb and say that if the Titanic made the crossing safely, that the Titanic goes down in history as just another boat. (Note: not a story.) We want our protagonists outside their comfort zones—or in extreme situations. 

Think of it this way—the days in your story are days the character is going to remember forever.

If your character isn’t feeling much of anything in the moment of ‘now’ on the page, you might need to back up a bit and find the juice.

Motivation—reaction.

Over and over.