How did you get out of a corner you backed yourself into?

mrsvalkyrie · Aug 25, 2012

I've been working off chapter outlines (I'm a huge organizer) and came across a part where two chapters didn't quite connect. I wrote another chapter in between and in doing so, seem to have backed myself into a corner that I'm not sure I know the way out of.

My MC was given something that he needs to complete a task. Then it gets stolen. Having it stolen was not "in the script," if you will, but it's a great scene and I would like to leave it in if possible. The problem I'm facing is that I don't want it to fall back into his lap, yet I don't want the story to drag on if he has to go looking for it.

I don't expect anyone to be able to tell me how to fix it, but I would like to hear some examples of times this has happened to you guys and how you got yourself out of it. I always do chapter outlines, but they are more of a guideline and things change quite a lot from the outline to the actual story. If this has happened to you, did you keep writing and just wing it? Did you stop and plan out how to fix it? Or did you get rid of the scene, regardless of how good it was?

Thanks, everyone!

Kerosene · Aug 25, 2012

I think you're problem is that you either haven't given the characters the right tools, or you just wrote a scene that needs to be thrown out.

Not to say I don't hit ruts, but I haven't encountered one in while (with my WIP. I've screwed with the SS I'm working on)

You can always use that scene as a "transporter" idea. Think, the character gets it stolen, the item somehow moves to where it's needed for him (or close) and by some way (let's say, the man who stole it is the enemy, who the MC needs to meet at a certain area, at a certain time with the tool) and they fight over the item in question. So it's delivered to the scene.

One of the main reasons why I don't work myself into a corner; is because my characters find a way out of the situation. I give them tools and freedom that they use in order to achieve their goals.
I had a conflict with my WIP's ending, which everything clashed at the end, pushing in on the MC. Since he's a anti-hero, who's weak and everything else around him was strong; he fell, for a purpose. And that salvaged the story. It was his plan, and after revising, I made it look like he planned it all along. (He surprised me).

But if you don't give them that freedom, as limiting the scene, they might not be able to get out of it.
Also, you could just rewrite the rest to fit to the scene. You don't have to him look for it.

Quiessa · Aug 25, 2012

I've had this problem as I half plot, half wing it. Personally, I went with what was better for the overall storyline, even if it meant murdering a darling or two (I know it hurts

).

Others may well disagree though!

Good luck!

gothicangel · Aug 25, 2012

In the first draft I've just finished, I knew I had to get my MC walking into a honey-trap that the antagonist had set up. I knew what would happen at the crisis point, but not how he got there. So I jumped forward 20,000 words and wrote the entrapment-scenes. It seemed to free up my imagination, and it came spilling out one morning at 4am. I then went back and joined the seams.

Just don't do what the book I've just thrown across the room, which contained two separate incidents of coincidence that got the MC out of a shit-storm within 250 pages.

*Quiessa, I love the avatar.

Quiessa · Aug 25, 2012

gothicangel said:
*Quiessa, I love the avatar.

Thank you! :Hug2:

(Yours is very cool too

)

shadowwalker · Aug 25, 2012

I don't outline, so writing myself into corners is a frequent "temptation". I say temptation because I have to look at everything that happens in respect to what's already happened and where it's going to lead. If something "really neat" could happen, but resolving it later means something tugging at "Are you kidding me?!", then that "really neat" thing gets tossed into the "maybe use this in another story" file and I move on. If I can resolve it without turning the reader's mind inside out, I go with it.

RN Hill · Aug 25, 2012

It may not work for everyone or be what works for you even, but what I do is just give it time. Inevitably, my characters will figure out how to get themselves out of the situation - or I'll realize that the situation shouldn't exist to begin with and throw it out. But it has taken me a month or better, sometimes, of just letting it mull over in my mind before I figure it out. In the meantime, I work on other scenes, even other books. And sometimes, I'll open up the little file I have on each character and let them tell me what should be done.

truemay · Aug 25, 2012

mrsvalkyrie said:
I've been working off chapter outlines (I'm a huge organizer) and came across a part where two chapters didn't quite connect. I wrote another chapter in between and in doing so, seem to have backed myself into a corner that I'm not sure I know the way out of.

My MC was given something that he needs to complete a task. Then it gets stolen. Having it stolen was not "in the script," if you will, but it's a great scene and I would like to leave it in if possible. The problem I'm facing is that I don't want it to fall back into his lap, yet I don't want the story to drag on if he has to go looking for it.

I don't expect anyone to be able to tell me how to fix it, but I would like to hear some examples of times this has happened to you guys and how you got yourself out of it. I always do chapter outlines, but they are more of a guideline and things change quite a lot from the outline to the actual story. If this has happened to you, did you keep writing and just wing it? Did you stop and plan out how to fix it? Or did you get rid of the scene, regardless of how good it was?

Thanks, everyone!

What exactly has been stolen if you dont mind me asking?

mrsvalkyrie · Aug 25, 2012

Thanks for all the great information, guys.

WillSauger-- you bring up excellent points. I'm definitely going to have to work on that!

Quiessa: It does hurt...

But luckily, not too much, as I wasn't set on the scene to begin with. I wanted to see where it led and... well, not very many places. Lol.

Gothicangel-- Great idea. I did write a bunch of random scenes for it ahead of time. Now I'm in the tie-in phase.... So much for that! Haha.

Shadowwalker: First of all, love the sig.

Second, excellent way of recycling.

I may have to do that with this scene. I'm going to leave it for now, but if I get farther in (only three chapters left, so it's going to have to get resolved fast!) and I can't find a way out of it, then I'll take it out.

RN Hill-- Ugh, I hope it doesn't take me a month! Lol. I'm going to give it a couple more hours of writing and see what comes, and if not, I'm going to open a fresh Word doc and do some Q&A with my friends-- er, I mean, characters.

truemay-- It's an item that opens into a key for the place that the MC is going. He didn't know it was a key, so he was kinda... careless. I'm not sure what kind of item just yet, to be honest... I know, what kind of a writer am I? Jeez!

Buffysquirrel · Aug 25, 2012

Depends how tight the corner and how wet the paint. If I'm shoehorning something into an existing story, I'll have to stop and think about how it fits in to some extent. Winging is fine if you don't know where you're going, but less so when you do. I'd look at the existing characters and see if you can use one in resolving this problem.

Save a new version of the file so you can easily roll back.

truemay · Aug 25, 2012

Depends on the type of book you are writing.If it had some kind of occult/supernatural aspects in it He could have been destined to find the key, or rather the key found him.In which case he could simply waken up next morning and find the key lying at the side of his bed.It had returned its self.

ArachnePhobia · Aug 25, 2012

In my last book, I had outlined a scene where the hero gets cut off from the heroine by an iron bar gate. Looked great on paper... until that hero, early in the actual writing of the piece, surprised me with his ability to teleport short distances. Suddenly I had to figure out how iron bars would pose any kind of impediment to him. I eventually decided they didn't and reworked the chapter outline so he and the heroine went it together, and honestly, it worked out better that way.

I'll probably end up blathering, since I have no details, but maybe this one's up to the character who stole the key. Is there a possibility they didn't so much steal it as take it hostage, intending to offer it back to the hero on some condition (like once he's inside he has to do something for them)? Or maybe they bugged/enchanted it while it was in their possession, and they slip it back to him so they can track where he's going? Or they put some kind of curse on it so using it will come with some horrible price and now he has to decide if it's worth it? I dunno, I'm just talking. Er, typing.

BethS · Aug 25, 2012

mrsvalkyrie said:
My MC was given something that he needs to complete a task. Then it gets stolen. Having it stolen was not "in the script," if you will, but it's a great scene and I would like to leave it in if possible. The problem I'm facing is that I don't want it to fall back into his lap, yet I don't want the story to drag on if he has to go looking for it.

Instead of having him waste time looking for it, have him try to accomplish the task without it. Which should give rise to all sorts of complications. And maybe, some day, he gets it back, but only after it's too late.

As to the rest of your question, I don't outline, but I do occasionally write myself into alley ways and dead-ends. It doesn't take me more than a couple pages to realize that, so either I blast a hole through the brick wall, or I back up and go another way.

onesecondglance · Aug 26, 2012

I actually quite like it when this happens. I get my problem-solving hat on. It's part of the fun of writing.

jaksen · Aug 26, 2012

Also, try not to think too much about the situation. Write a different scene - skip ahead to where you want the characters to be and write that. Sometimes the answer to a plot question will come when you least expect it, like just as you're drifting off to sleep, or waking up, or when you're on the phone to an inlaw. It just happens.

angeliz2k · Aug 26, 2012

jaksen said:
Also, try not to think too much about the situation. Write a different scene - skip ahead to where you want the characters to be and write that. Sometimes the answer to a plot question will come when you least expect it, like just as you're drifting off to sleep, or waking up, or when you're on the phone to an inlaw. It just happens.

I was going to say something similar.

Don't over-think this. In my own writing, I find that there are scores of story threads bound up in a knot. I've been struggling with the plotting of my current WIP for about two years now (ugh). But I finally figured something out: I don't need to untie the knotted story lines. I need to cut through them like the Gordian knot.

Give it some time, mull it over, and don't hang on to bits and pieces that might actually serve no purpose. You probably have some preconceived notions about exactly where your story is going and how you plan to get there; be open to the idea that you might find something better.

Kevin Nelson · Aug 27, 2012

I've sometimes found myself in a similar situation and usually I've just had to bite the bullet. That is, I've wound up having to cut out scenes that I really liked just because they didn't fit in very well with the overall flow.

ccarver30 · Aug 27, 2012

truemay said:
Depends on the type of book you are writing.If it had some kind of occult/supernatural aspects in it He could have been destined to find the key, or rather the key found him.In which case he could simply waken up next morning and find the key lying at the side of his bed.It had returned its self.

This is an awesome idea.

Or someone else finds it and is looking for the owner. Do they have Craigslist in this world?

Arthea · Aug 27, 2012

1. You could also have him trade for it. Whoever stole it from him wants to use it as a way to get your MC to give them something they want. Just a thought.

2. I am also digging the recent suggestion of the key finding its owner. Very cool.

3. I am also a huge organizer and write a detailed outline. I find myself still adding scenes. Sometimes it alters your outline -- that's okay! You can still work around it. That's what ends up adding a lot to your story, I think. Sometimes I mean for a scene to go one way, but the characters drive it differently. Not always bad.

truemay · Aug 27, 2012

ccarver30 said:
This is an awesome idea.

Or someone else finds it and is looking for the owner. Do they have Craigslist in this world?

I thank You!

dontpanic · Aug 27, 2012

mrsvalkyrie said:
I've been working off chapter outlines (I'm a huge organizer)

I'm exactly the same! I got finicky with a draft that had undergone several editing sessions and was over-analysing small turns of plot, which were fine. I began pulling apart the novel and then, I was horrified when I lost half of my plans when I lost my USB. It was never recovered, so I was left with my older plans and draft, before I had began picking it apart.

This turned out to be a blessing for the work, and so I didn't really back myself out, but was thrown out by losing the unnecessary changes I was making.

I often do extensive plans and sometimes need to tweak as I go on, but I try to remember to keep my plans vague with wriggle room for later. At the moment I'm backing myself out of a nightmare WIP which has been haunting me for years, by going back to the drawing board. Lots of world-building, a change of tone and narrative voice are in order.

mrsvalkyrie · Aug 27, 2012

Thank you all for such helpful responses.

I spent a lot of time looking over all of the suggestions and I think I may have figured it out.

Arthea--I used an alternate version of your first suggestion (having it traded for.) Since there is unfortunately no Craigslist in the book

I threw in a character who needs the MC to get something back for him and in exchange, he will get back what was stolen from the MC (and then a whole other chain of events happens that never could have been created without including this character, so I'd say that couldn't have worked out better!)

dontpanic-- It's funny you mention losing the USB, because while I was working on a scene involving the character I mentioned creating above, my computer froze, which has never happened before. I eventually had to shut my computer down and lost two days worth of writing (don't know how, but there weren't even any auto-saved versions available.) This also happened to be a blessing in disguise because if it hadn't happened, I never would have changed the scene around after reading all of these suggestions and found a way out of the very tight corner with very wet paint. (That one's for you, Buffysquirrel!

)

I'll have to check it over and make sure everything fits now, but thank you all for your awesome suggestions.

:partyguy:

Time to celebrate with rep points! I'll be handing them out at the door; please pick them up as you exit the room in an orderly fashion.

rwm4768 · Aug 27, 2012

I once wrote myself into a corner when my characters got arrested and taken back to the other side of a gate barring them from the city they want to reach. They couldn't get past the gate, and I had no idea what to do.

That's where I created a new character, another person in the jail. My characters were allowed to go, and then one of them returned to the jail to free the other person, who then told them an alternate way to reach their destination.

That's the first instance that pops to my mind.

Varthikes · Aug 28, 2012

This has happened to me. Usually, I take that opportunity to go back to the beginning and read over what I have so far.

On my current WIP, though, I've managed to catch potential road-blocks ahead of time. When I start writing the book, I only have a few chapters outlined. As I write the scenes that are outlined, I get ideas of how to continue the outline and make changes as needed.

The potential road-blocks I've seen in the outline mainly have to do with getting all the players where they need to be when they need to be there and the main antagonist being defeated too early.

jaksen · Aug 28, 2012

I've written myself into a few corners - mystery short stories, first pov, never outline - and if I'm in a corner, so is my MC. I had him once saunter over to a truck in a parking lot and sort of lean against it in disgust at himself. He had a predicament he couldn't get out of - and neither could I, his creator get him out of it. I walked around for a day thinking, okay need to rewrite this, shelve this, toss this.

Then he turned his shoulder, spied a cell phone on the seat of the truck, reached in, grabbed it, used it and then tossed it into the lake (which was already across the street.) Unrealistic much? No, I'd already painted him as a kid who would do illegal things when he needed to and have few qualms about it. Situation solved.

How did you get out of a corner you backed yourself into?

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