I've been hard at work on my latest book, a young adult science fiction time-travel novel, but unfortunately I've been stuck in a rut as of late. I really, truly, absolutely hate it when this happens, but it seems to happen at least once per book (if I'm lucky) - I simply get to a point in the story where I don't know how to progress, and that happens to be where I'm at right now.
In this particular case, I've made it a whopping two hundred pages through the draft without a hitch (well, for the most part). But for some reason I'm just not sure what should happen next (similar to what happened with the last book I scrapped, although this one is much farther along). Funny thing is, since I'm somewhat of a pre-plotter, I had a pretty well-realized idea beforehand of where I wanted to go, but for some reason the story simply isn't cooperating with my initial plan and I have no idea why. Right now we're talking more than two straight weeks of not being able to continue with the story at all. I've been brainstorming like crazy, bouncing ideas off friends, writing buddies, and even the ficus in my backyard, and have even tried revising some of the ideas we've come up with into the book itself (well, the ficus didn't have much input), but so far nothing has solidified itself as a worthy fit.
Talk about a serious "ARGH!" Haha.
Oh, well. At the end of the day I might need to put the book on the back-burner for a little while, get some distance from it so I can return to it later with fresh eyes, but it's definitely a doozy. I have one friend who's been right there with me every step of the way these past two weeks trying to help me crack this one, and even he is stumped.
But have ye a little faith - I'm positive I'll get through this rough patch at some point. It's just a little frustrating, that's all, made even more frustrating due to the fact I'm stuck at a spot close to the story's conclusion (this book will be more on the slimmer size length-wise, but then again what else is new with me?). Hopefully I'll eventually solve the riddle, finish the book, and it'll be out in the world for people to enjoy. In the meantime, wish me luck cracking this one! I'm going to need it!
