I’m currently writing a novella
for an anthology.
I was motoring along in the first draft
and then, all of a sudden,
the words stopped flowing.
Years ago,
I would have called it writer’s block.
I might have pushed my way through,
forcing myself to continue writing.
Today,
I know the reason the words stopped
is I made a wrong decision.
I forced characters to do something
they wouldn’t do.
I was out of character
and this makes it impossible
to make more decisions for the character
(writing consists of
making decision after decision).
Is this experience
or is this listening to my gut?
I think it is a combination
of the two.
When something feels wrong,
stop,
listen to your gut
and then apply your experience to the ‘problem’.