How To Get Unstuck: Story Savvy Self-Editing Episode 48

In this episode, I mentioned many other episodes in this series, specifically those I think are topics writers are mostly likely to get stuck on, or those which I feel would also be helpful on this topic:

Episode 1: Starting with Audience

Episode 2: Deciding Genre

Episode 4: The Heart of the Story (including message & theme)

Episode 7: Beginning, Middle & End

Episode 22: Mental Health & Self-Care (for writers)

Episode 46: Revisiting Gaps & Sticking Points

Happy editing!

Episode 48 Overview:

Getting Unstuck

“What if I got stuck on a step in the process? How can I move forward without figuring out an answer or finishing a change I’ll rely on later in self-editing my novel?”

This episode of the Story Savvy Series explores how to define theme and message and tackle many other roadblocks when you're feeling stuck in the revision process. Packed with self-editing tips for writers and practical developmental editing advice, this episode helps you stay productive even when your story structure and editing feel unclear.

Join developmental editor Rebecca Hartwell and aspiring middle-grade fantasy author Agnes Wolfe as they discuss how to break through blocks during revision. You'll walk away with strategies to keep heading towards the finish line, even when your inner critic, mental load, or plot are trying to hold you back.

In this Episode:

• Why “sticking points” happen
• Why skipping or half-doing a step can be the right move
• Tactics to nudge big moments and character arcs forward
• Polishing your manuscript: typos, clarity, and simple formatting checks
• When to set a deadline, ask for help, or leave it for beta feedback

Resources:

• Hart Bound Developmental Editing
• Agnes Wolfe - agneswolfeauthor.com
• Dragonheart Academy - Dragonheartacademy.com

 
See you next week for episode 49: Formatting & Finding Feedback

Episode 48 Transcript:

How To Get Unstuck

Rebecca Hartwell: Hello and welcome to the Hart Bound Editing Podcast. This is episode 48 of the weekly Story Savvy series, where we tackle the 52 biggest self-editing topics and tips to help you make your good story great. As an aspiring author asks me, a developmental editor, all of the questions that you have wanted to.

We have covered so much in this series so far, including last week's episode on getting the most out of your final self-editing full read-through of your manuscript. Today, we are going to talk about getting unstuck if that happens to you anywhere in this process. By the end of this episode, you'll hopefully feel confident either half-assing, skipping, or otherwise powering past any topics that you get stuck on without feeling bad about it, because you really shouldn't have to. Joining me to ask all of the questions is my friend and co-host, Agnes Wolfe. Hello.

Agnes Wolfe: Hi, I'm an aspiring fantasy author who hopes to release her first middle grade fantasy later next year, and also host and founder of Authors Alcove. I'm here today to tackle how to move forward productively if you get hung up on an earlier step in the self-editing process. So, I am so glad that you mentioned at the end of last episode that, um, one of our listeners had brought this up to you, because it's something that I probably could have personally brought up to you, because I do feel a little bit stuck at the moment. And I know it's somewhat in my head and all of that. So, why do you feel this particular episode is important to go into depth in.

Rebecca: I think that this is a great topic because I've heard about this happening to so many authors, I've hit this in my own writing and self-editing, so it’s relevant, and this is kind of the moment where we just talked about final read-through, where folks are probably the most stressed about this, if they're going to be. It can be really easy to fall into feeling like we have to get every step, or one particular step done before we can go on to do another. Especially if the step that we are stuck on seems to feed into future decisions or future steps pretty heavily. The listener that I mentioned earlier who asked for this topic, and I'm so glad that they did, specifically mentioned that they were stuck on figuring out their audience, or specifically, their single audience member that they were telling their story to, and asked if we could address that, and what to do in that position.

Agnes: So, what would be your answer to them in that particular situation?

Rebecca: I would suggest that you pick somebody you know well and just run with that.it doesn't have to even necessarily be accurate, but having anyone in mind, that you're telling the story to is better than nobody, by a long shot. So, if you are stuck on your audience, go ahead and just say, my mom. Or, my best friend from high school, who I haven't seen in a decade because she used to read romance. Having anyone in that metaphorical position of sitting across the table from you, going through these edits, is something. If you don't want to do anything to come up with an audience member, then what I recommend doing is putting yourself in that position as much as you can. So instead of saying, I'm writing this story for nobody, for the universe, for the empty void of space, at least decide that you're writing it for yourself, and you are your own target audience. That's what I'd recommend for that specific situation.

Agnes: So, I know that's one example. What are some other common places you feel like authors get stuck?

Rebecca: I think it's most likely that authors are going to get stuck on the early topics from this series, where we were making big story decisions about massive elements that affect the whole story. So the big likely culprits are probably picking or clarifying or getting into a niche genre, really trying to define or deliver your message or theme, what the heart of your story is can be a little bit difficult to really define or use, so you might be stuck on that. You might get stuck on the big moments in the story, like the midpoint or the climax, or on certain aspects of trying to get your protagonist or your antagonist’s character arcs squared away nicely. I, in my experience, am more likely to get stuck on big things that feel overwhelming or intimidating. And less likely to get stuck on things like… Am I using all of the senses? Am I overusing non-verbal communication? Things like that.

Agnes: So, could you give us just a little advice on getting unstuck with each of these examples?

Rebecca: I can try. So, the first example that I mentioned was genre. And this is kind of a similar answer to audience, but from a different approach. With genre, I think that you kind of need to step back even further and decide if you are writing genre fiction. Because if you're not, that's a valid choice to make. This series is geared towards genre fiction, so a lot of the advice is specific for genre fiction.

But if that's not you, fine. Take the advice that feels applicable and helpful and ignore the rest. If you are writing genre fiction, but you're still really stuck on this genre question, go broader. So, just naming that you're writing genre fiction, that's a step. Don't beat yourself up if that's the only step that you can get to right now. Editors, beta readers, can all help with that down the road. But, I do recommend going back to that episode on genre and looking at it, listening through it again, just from that very high-level perspective of… What am I delivering the most in this story? Am I delivering a romantic feeling. Am I delivering a sense of justice? Am I delivering edge-of-your-seat horror novel kind of anticipation and strain. And from that question of what the story is delivering, just do your best to pair it to a genre that seems realistic. And as you move forward, having gotten unstuck off of that, you can, over time, find a new genre term that you hadn't heard before and go, oh, that's perfect, or end up researching comp titles, and you see one of them is shelved in a sub-sub-sub category, that's exactly what your book is, and you didn't even know that was an option. So, start broad, move forward, narrow down as you go along. The second example that I brought up in my list is message or theme. And this is one I suggest skipping entirely if you're stuck on it. As I mentioned in the episode kind of on that topic, so many authors out there don't care about message or theme, and they don't do anything intentional with it, and there's even best-selling masterwork authors out there who kind of dismiss or poo-poo the entire idea. So if you're stuck on message and theme, set it aside, you kind of really don't need to look at that at all, just keep moving forward.

Very similarly to that, the next thing on the list is the heart of your story. And the thing is, even if you can't articulate a heart of your story for yourself, it's there. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a story. Otherwise, you wouldn't have come up with the idea, otherwise, you wouldn't have had anywhere to go with this story. So, again, if you're stuck on that one, maybe try backing off, maybe try approaching it from a different mindset, maybe start with the emotion and then try to describe what happens around it. But don't get stuck on it. And if, at the end of the day, you have nothing to show for that whole episode, that whole step? Ignore it, move on.

From there, the other things that I listed are a bit more…I'll say necessary, I try to avoid absolutes, but you kind of do need to have a midpoint in your book, and you do kind of need to have a climax, especially if it's genre fiction. So, what I recommend here is narrowing down on that event and just reading through it maybe 3 to 5 times, just that one scene, over and over and over. And then, take a step back and look at your list of chapters to help your brain sort of conceptualize of the whole story, and see if any inspiration comes up. Try going and doing chores, or going on a drive, whatever kind of helps your brain get in that more flow state kind of headspace, and see if anything comes up. If it doesn't, but you know that there's something there that is sticky, that is still in need of more correction or improvement, make a note of it. And when you get outside feedback for the first time, be that a dev editor, a critique partner, beta readers, mention that to them, which we'll get to in a whole episode in much more depth, but remember that there was a point there that needs fixing, and ask for help in figuring out what it is that you're not being able to see there from somebody else. The idea of the character arc issues is pretty much the same thing. Sit with it, close your eyes, trying to imagine yourself in this character's shoes. Maybe go read something else and see if you get inspiration for a certain character dynamic or interaction. And if you're not getting anything out of that, if you're still just stuck, stuck, stuck on this, write it down as clearly as you can of, hey, I am stuck on my antagonist’s speech in praise of the villain in the build-up to the climax. So that when you can come back to it, or when you're getting outside feedback, or when something else finally clicks, somewhere else in the story, and it opens up a new opportunity, you’re not going to forget that you needed to address that. And in all of this, I'm going to refer everyone back to the episode that we did on revisiting gaps and sticking points, there's a lot of overlap here. So, I hope that that answers all of those questions.

Agnes: So, I know me and my husband actually were talking about just how I feel kind of stuck at the moment. So, I just want to ask, what if it's not one of those things? What is some more general advice for getting unstuck from other, less specific topics?

Rebecca: Regardless of what the specific hang-up or sticking point is for you as an individual, for any listeners, you REALLY can and should completely skip something, or do a half-assed job on it if you can't get through it the way that you want to get through it. I realize that the term “half-assing it” can seem harsh, and for perfectionists, can kind of trigger us a little bit. So, let me explain that a little bit more. One of the best pieces of advice that I have ever gotten for my personal life, like, not even just writing advice, is, “if something is worth doing, it is worth doing poorly.” If taking a shower every single day is worth doing, then it's worth doing without full skin routine, without washing your hair. It's worth doing kind of shittily, if it's worth doing at all. And that applies to self-editing or writing of any other kind. If it is worth getting your climax in good shape and so that it's all one coherent, big, impressive event, then it's worth doing that even if you're kind of bad at it. So, that mindset can be helpful. And if it's not, or if it doesn't apply or feel helpful to a specific instance where you're feeling stuck, scrap it. Absolutely give yourself permission to go, you know what? I'm not getting to this. I need to move on. And you've mentioned several times in this podcast that that's essentially where you got before giving your manuscript to me. You wanted to do more on it, but you were feeling stuck, and you made that call of, “Eh, fuck it. I'm going to send it to her anyway,” and it worked out great, it worked out fine. I don't think that there was any significant downside to that. So bearing that fuck-it mindset in mind can be helpful. Um, I will also refer back to what I've mentioned earlier about anything is better than nothing. If you want to do one, you know, one pass through of these two scenes that have issues, and just do what you can. in a day, or in an hour, that’s better than nothing. If you can't get your antagonist in great shape, improve him a little bit. Make her just one degree more interesting or evil or whatever. And then related to that, try setting yourself a deadline. So, tell yourself, okay, today I've got 2 hours to work on self-editing, just today, I'm going to spend all of those 2 hours going through and trying to clean up this plot thread that got confusing. And then tomorrow, I can stop thinking about it because I've done what I can, that's enough, I need to move forward.

Agnes: So I imagine I'm not the only person like this, but what if a writer gets stuck on something else entirely, especially if it's really vague, like just not liking the story they wrote? That’s not my case. Or not wanting to show it to anyone else—which might be a little bit—or any other form of feeling discouraged or stuck, and maybe even in a mental health sort of way. Do you have any recommendations there?

Rebecca: Yeah, first of all, I'd send people back to the episode we did just on mental health. I think there's still value there, and I'll try not to repeat myself too much. If you're feeling resistance, which it sounds like you're talking about there, more than being stuck on a particular step in a process, I suggest trying to talk through it with somebody else. Maybe this is posting in a group to a bunch of strangers who are also writers and asking for advice. Maybe this is talking to a friend or a family member, or a therapist. Anything like that, talking through it and getting even a little bit of that sort of sounding board dynamic going on around it can be very, very helpful. If you don't want to actually rope anybody else into it, journaling through that resistance, through that stuckness, or just pacing around your house ranting about it to yourself, which is kind of what I do, can be very helpful, because again, it just gets things moving. And you go from feeling like you're up against this wall with this resistance and stuckness, and just talking about it can just move things a little bit and allow things to start flowing again, so journaling, talking to yourself out loud, talking to your pets, whatever the case may be, can be helpful as well. And then the last piece of advice that I have on this is, try pretending that you are somebody else as you approach these edits. I feel like it's pretty cliche that people talk about self-editor… or sorry, self-publishing authors in particular needing to wear multiple hats. You have the creative author hat, and then you also have to be able to “put on” your editor hat to have this brain shift to then go into that. So, if you're really stuck, feeling resistance, try sitting down in front of your manuscript and telling yourself for a moment, okay, I am somebody else, and you can give them a name, it can be somebody real you know, it can be a well-respected editor you've heard of or read their book. Sit down, tell yourself, I am so-and-so, how would I, this other person, deal with this? And sometimes you'll get a little bit of that movement, sometimes you'll find a little bit of inspiration, and sometimes just getting out of your own emotional attachment to whatever is happening there can also be very helpful.

Agnes: So, I know you're also a writer, not just a developmental editor, so I'm going to ask you, yourself, do you get stuck in your own writing, or actually maybe even your editing projects. And if so, on what most of the time, and how do you personally forge through?

Rebecca: I definitely get most stuck in my general process in that moment between finishing all of my plotting and outlining and starting drafting. And that's because the former is my favorite part of the process, and the latter is my least favorite. So that is definitely where I get stuck, and how I typically get unstuck from that is just going back to my notes on the climax, because that's usually where a story idea starts for me, and I'm really excited to eventually get there. And just reminding myself, okay, yes, I'm going to have to write 60,000 words to get to the climax scene, but I love this idea so much that it's worth it to get there. As far as editing specific topics go, I tend to get the most stuck in self-editing sort of around that cusp between looking at plot, character, and worldbuilding, and moving into the polishing stages. That's a big reason why we ended up doing a break week at that cusp in this series. And that is because, in my own work and my own personality, when I'm hitting that moment, I'm moving away from feeling like I'm a storyteller and moving into feeling like I'm doing a repetitive, monotonous, boring grind on my book. So, how I typically try to break through that is that is the point in my own process where I will give myself a deadline. So, that is where I will contact a beta reader, or one of my groups for that, or book in a developmental editor. Something like that, usually 2 or 3 months out, so that I know that that part of the process that I find so much more arduous and more likely to get stuck on is finite. That makes a big difference for me, and to be honest, the adrenaline and stress of knowing, “oh my god, I need to get this done before the deadline” is very helpful in breaking me past that and forcing me to move forward as well. So, I would love to ask you, you’re also a writer, and we've talked about a lot of this stuff. I've worked on your book. Where do you feel like you get stuck on this topic, or any other topic, and how do you typically try to move forward through that?

Agnes: I think that I have a lot of imposter syndrome, so I think that I get stuck especially when I start to feel like I'm getting close to finishing something in it, and then I start being like, “I have all this self-doubt,” and then I can't do anything. Fortunately, I have this amazing husband who is— He gives the best advice, and he's not soft about it. He's blunt, which is what I need. I think one of the things that I have found is just do anything. And so I literally will just start reading the chapter, or anything, just to try to get through, and not necessarily focus on anything in particular. And that will usually help me have my creative energy. Or, as funny as this is, I actually have certain podcasts that I will put on that help me with my creative energy, because they talk about specific types of editing. And usually it starts getting me daydreaming and that sort of thing. But those are the basic things. It's just making sure I'm actually doing something going forward, not just busy work, like, “oh, I'm going to correct all the punctuation,” which I'm going to be changing all because I'm going to be changing other things later down. I think that that's kind of a pointless thing for me, and I used to try to do that, but that one's not really moving forward because it's all going to change in the end, so…

Rebecca: Sure.

Agnes: Okay, so wrapping up, I do have one last question. If we do end up skipping or half-assing something we were stuck on in order to move forward and finish, when do you think we should come back to it? If at all.

Rebecca: I think that setting it aside permanently is okay, if that's the choice that you want to make, if that's what feels right. I would recommend giving it a solid couple of weeks before coming back to it, at a minimum, essentially. You want to get past the larger patch of resistance before you try coming back to that sort of core moment of it. So, a lot of this might end up being that you don't come back to it until you're until you're implementing the feedback that you get from outside readers. So, let's go back to our audience member's example of, I'm stuck on audience. I don't know who my audience is. It's totally fine to set that aside for, whatever, 40-ish episodes of this series, and wait until you've already gotten your beta feedback and your dev feedback, which we're ging to do an episode on accepting and implementing, and at that stage, hopefully, there's something in this outside feedback that will unblock that for you. So, I don't recommend trying to come back to things, especially if they were big or really, really stalled you out, until you've reached that done marker of handing it off to the beta readers and probably waiting until you've gotten that feedback from them.

Agnes: Well, thank you so much for your insight. It has been helpful, as always. Thank you.

Rebecca: delightful. And yes, next week we will go over formatting, finding feedback readers, and how to set yourself up for success when sending your WIP out to them. For now, I would really like to thank everyone who follows along with this series, and especially the audience member who gave us this week's topic. If you know any authors or writers who are nearing the end of their first draft or struggling with revising or rewriting their novel, please send them our way, or send this podcast to them. The more authors that we can help, not only understand this process, but reach the end of it feeling very confident in their work, the better. Thank you, Agnes. I will see you all next week.

Agnes: Thank you. Bye-bye.

Rebecca: Thank you so much for listening to the Hart Bound Editing Podcast. I look forward to bringing you more content to help you make your good story great so it can change lives and change your world. Follow along to hear more or visit my website, linked in the description, to learn how I can help you and your story to flourish.

See you next time!