Writer's Digest Craft Essay: "Seven Tips To Rev a Stalling Story"

In my new essay for Writer’s Digest called “Seven Tips to Rev a Stalling Story,” I offered solutions to a story that’s starting to lose tension and energy. As a writing coach and developmental editor, I’ve frequently seen how a great outline isn’t enough to save a book. At first, a story sounded good in theory with appropriate plot points that hit all the beats. 

But on the page, the final product feels lackluster or plodding. The writer, once excited by their project, finds their own story, well, boring. Extreme outlining risks a story feeling like it’s simply rote paint-by-numbers—the scenes feel uninspired, lack spontaneity, or it’s obvious that this was all someone’s plan.

In a world with “pantsers” and “plotters,” there are people for whom outlining a novel is all that’s required (plotters). Pantsers, on the other hand, tend to prefer spontaneity and fly by the seat of their pants (famous practitioners include Lee Child and Tana French, although I find it hard to believe she doesn’t plan SOME of what happens in her books). 

In the essay, I draw on watching others successfully work through problems, suggesting straightforward solutions to a flagging storyline—and specifically, how to make those changes in an existing piece. Some of the changes might involve a lot of rewriting, and some require less. I also draw on my struggles to offer 7 tips to pick up a story after it’s fallen and can’t get up. 

Ultimately, my goal with the essay is to avoid abstract advice and talk about ways to make your writing have new energy and tension. Not how to structure a story (talk about abstract!), but how to make a reader feel worried for a character or excited about what happens next.

I give specific advice on using these techniques with an existing manuscript and explain when a technique might involve more re-writing—for example, if an approach involves changing an important character.