Gentle plotting for confirmed Pantsers, or how authors can push through writer's block.

Writing for the non-plotter or Pantser..."The tricky middle" part of novel writing - how do you work through it? 

The first third, when you are full of ideas and enthusiasm often seems to flow from the muse with ease. You are in love with your plot, your characters and Best Selling Author status seems guaranteed, I mean, it's brilliant, right? 

Then you get to "the tricky middle bit" that part where you have to craft & create links and connections, your story needs to maintain pace & a real sense of direction for your readers. 

And yet, when you sit down at that computer, nothing seems to move the story along.

I am a (mostly) a pantser. My outlining efforts have been, it's safe to say, less than stellar. I simply don't have the patience to create an outline that detailed, though I have great admiration for those who do. Often my notes at this very early stage read along the lines of, "Arthur falls off his horse" or "Murderer is discovered."

Generally, I start out by writing by the seat of my pants from a (frequently vague) idea. I like to let the story take me, and see where it goes, but then, sometimes you get stuck, there are either too many options or so little inspiration once you've introduced the main players & set the scene...

So what can you do to move forward? Here are a couple of ideas.

- Once I see or at least get a feel for where the story is going, I like to make at least attempt at an outline. That doesn't mean I need to completely follow it, but it is nice to see what might happen in the story. It can also stimulate new ideas & plot twists. 

- I've also tried writing a short note which outlines each chapter as I finish them, or at the end of a writing session. This has the benefit of being able to have an easy go-to ready reference for those moments of utter confusion and when I have properly lost my plot.

Another useful option for getting through the treacle to get writing again when in a funk is that used famously by Stephen King.

Stephen King has an unshakable philosophy on plotting a story: don't, he finds pre-plotted stories to be predictable.

So he developed a technique of setting a few characters in a unique situation, then working with them, 2,000 words at a time, to see what happens. He says the situation, not the characters, comes first.

Here's an example: A woman comes home to an empty house, finds it funny that for a second she got a whiff of her very dangerous ex's hair tonic. Not possible--he's in jail. She turns on the TV, finds out about the jailbreak. Then she thinks she hears something upstairs...

Here's another example: What if the person coming home were a man? The one in jail, a woman?

I do like this technique as it works for kickstarting a project or for getting it unstuck and moving again. Ultimately there is no right or wrong, it's what works for you but sometimes when the muse just won't show up to be inspiring you've gotta do it on your own, and these little suggestions just may help you out.

What about you? Do you consider yourself a Plotter or a Pantser? Or are you a little of both? What do you do to work through" the tricky middle?"