Whether a plotter or pantser, writer’s block is an ongoing battle for most writers. Showing up at a computer every day and expecting thousands of artistically crafted words to gush out creates psychological pressure, often stopping the flow altogether. But visiting your scene playground may be the perfect remedy. And who doesn’t love a good playground?
Every writer needs a fun, free place for her writer-gnomes to play. And writer-gnomes don’t have writer’s block because they have chisels and pick axes.
Wait, is that weird?
My love for the Scene Playground started with a desktop file called (very uncreatively) Scene Playground, which I started while writing the first book in my Delilah Duffy Mystery Series, Sea-Devil. I needed a place to scene-play without “messing up” or cluttering my draft. Once Sea-Devil and the second book, Luna-Sea, were published, that file became Scene Playground >#2. And now that I’m totally into Scrivener, I have a Research file called Extras for my extensive playtime.
And to give you an idea of how much playing I do… Scene Playground >#2 topped 70,000 words. The Extras file in my current WIP One Thing Better is over 30,000 words, and there are dozens of other files saved there that didn’t make the cut, too.
Hmm, maybe I spend too much time there… I’ll think about that later.
Whether you’re a plotter—someone who extensively maps out her story before writing and sticks to the master plan—or a pantser—one who sits down at the computer to write and lets the story unfold as it may—or any combo of the two, anyone can benefit from an excursion to the Scene Playground. It’s a break from the doldrums of everyday writing that busts through writer’s block, motivates more writing, and gives a clearer view of the path ahead.
Because here’s a difficult truth… Writing a novel isn’t always the fun, mental adventure it seems to be.
Writing is often very linear. You write scene A to get to scene B, and so on. And not every scene is kickass or awesome. Some scenes are just stepping stones to get to the sloppy kiss, devilish murderer, tearful confession, drop-the-curtain reveal, or fist-throwing fight–or if it’s a really awesome scene all of those at once. While all scenes (should) matter in a book (and if it doesn’t, you should remove it), not all scenes get the writer-gnomes moving and shaking in your head or your fingers tapping crazily on the keyboard.
But, in your creative writer’s eye, you see ahead. That delectable end-game plays out in your mind, and you want to write it so badly, your fingers twitch, and your writer-gnomes cry out, “Please!” Only you have so many fluffy details to get through first. It’s not time for the end-game, yet. Or… is it?
Enter SCENE PLAYGROUND. In this safe, secret place, it doesn’t matter what you write–it’s all for you. Not nosy neighbors. Not housemates. And most importantly, not readers.
Pick the big, curly font, eighteen-point, if you want. It’s the playground. Anything goes. Hell, write that scene in red if it makes you feel sassy. You’re free to break all the rules.
And it’s a good thing—letting inspiration lead you. Sometimes, skipping a few chapters and writing what you want busts through writer’s block. Karate-chop-style. The action unfolding in your head becomes more real on the page, allowing you to conceptualize it better. Knowing how that hot, suspenseful, heartbreaking, action-packed scene could play out will help you create those fluffy scenes to get there. The Scene Playground is where you dish out what you want to write even though you haven’t exactly earned permission to be there yet.
And writer’s block crumbles there because there are no readers to worry about or requirements to meet–not logical order, word count goals, or context to establish. Just like a regular playground, you pick what you want to do and have fun with it.
Bonus… in the scene playground, you can write scenes in a myriad of ways. I’ve often used it as a scene laboratory to figure out what works best. Should the hero and villain meet in a dark alley or a board room or a coffee shop? The playground lets me experiment until I find the perfect scene.
And skipping around from face-off to the sloppy kiss is liberating, too, just like going from the swing to the slides. It doesn’t have to be A to B to C. It doesn’t need to make sense.
Freed from that linear path, really great writing can happen, and new ideas could form. You don’t have to make a sandcastle in the sandbox. You could make a dungeon or a treehouse or, hell, a stick swamp where the characters eat mud pies.
Stepping outside the box of your manuscript might inspire more creativity, like…
What if she doesn’t end up with the hunky neighbor with the bedroom eyes, but that asshole at work?
What if the face-off is upended by that nosy neighbor down the hall?
What if it’s not just Rosalind discovering Orlando’s secret, but everyone at The Children of Light meeting?
What if her stalker ends up being someone she never suspected? Or better yet, she doesn’t have a stalker at all…she’s stalking herself!
Da, da, da. (For more writing prompts and strange, I mean, STRANGE, ideas, check this out.)
And try these for more Quirky Story Starters.
But beware… There’s a downside to the Scene Playground, too. Like with anything fun and daring… it comes at a price.
The Scene Playground is an alluring place. It’s easy to get trapped there, creating all the sexy scenes without working on the necessary ones. Spending too much time there could result in little to no progress on your novel (hence the 70,000 words in my early playground).
Visit the playground. Have your fun. But then, get back to work. The Scene Playground is for breaks, not benders. Meant to eliminate writer’s block, not form another one.
Another downside… There’s a high probability that you can’t use most of the words you produce there. Jumping ahead runs the risk that by the time you actually get there the old-fashioned way (A to B to C), the story might be different, and your words useless because they don’t apply anymore. The scene might play out differently than the way you imagined it during your playtime. And that means… writing it again.
But, if it’s the kickass scene you couldn’t wait to write then, it should be even more now. So, that’s not a bad thing.
It’s only bad when you let your writer-gnomes have TOO MUCH fun.
So, enjoy the scene playground, but use it appropriately. Limit your time there. And get back to your WIP ASAP.
Now, back to my regularly scheduled programming at my regular desk… or maybe I’ll just peek inside my Scene Playground for a few minutes… for old time’s sake.
Meanwhile, three days later….
Save me from the trap of my scene playground. So, anyone else have a writer’s guilty pleasure to share? Confess below.
And subscribe to my writer’s confessional for prompts and more writing fun.
