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I spent two weeks stuck on a single character's motivation
I was writing a short story about a man who finds a lost dog, but I could not figure out why he wouldn't just call the number on the collar. I wrote and rewrote the first five pages maybe ten times. The answer finally came when I remembered a neighbor from my old apartment in Chicago who was deeply afraid of phones. Has anyone else had a simple story question stall them for that long? What broke you out of it?
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grantnelson5mo ago
Oh the "deeply afraid of phones" thing is such a good fix. I got stuck for days once because I couldn't figure out why my character wouldn't just leave a bad party. Then I remembered getting my coat stuck in a closet door at a party in college and just... giving up. Sometimes the answer is just some weird little memory.
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fionat555mo ago
Actually pulling from real life can make characters feel too small sometimes. If every problem is just a quirky memory, you miss the chance for bigger, more interesting flaws. Grant's character might have a deeper reason for staying at that bad party, like a fear of being alone. Blair's coat story works for a moment, but what about building a whole person? Real memories are fine for details, but they shouldn't replace giving a character their own spine. Don't you risk making everyone just a copy of your own past?
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blair_torres705mo ago
The coat stuck in the door thing is so real.
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