Even when your writing is going well, you can suddenly hit a snag that stops you dead in the water. This is not the time to stare into the distance or give up. When your muse squelcher makes an appearance and your brain goes dead, it's time to break out the pen and stationery and write a letter (and yes, eMail is a letter, too). But not just any letter. This is one of those "special" letters. And you're not doing the writing. You just get to hold the pen.

A great way to get around writers block and get the words flowing again is to have your character write a letter. Keep in mind that your character is going to write a different letter to her mother than the one she'd write to her best friend and a lot different than the one her lover would get.

So the first thing you need to do is figure out who your character is going to write to. A best friend is always good, because people tell their best friend things they wouldn't tell anyone else -- ever. However, where you're stuck in your story might make writing to someone else much more useful. So pick someone based on where your character is right now and what's going on in your story.

Next, have your character write that person a letter explaining what is going on in their life right now. Include what they are feeling, what they are thinking, and what they are planning on doing.

Don't get stuck on how the letter opens or you'll just send your poor little muse back into hiding. Use basic conversational, meaningless fluff to get you going like:

"You'll never guess who I ran into at the store today."

"So I just thought I'd drop you a line to say hi and let you know the gory details of the weirdness that's my life right now."

"Do you remember [person's name]? Well, I thought you'd like to know ...."

"This woman came into the office today and you'll never guess what she was wearing!"

"I can't believe it's been 3 months since I talked to you last. You'll never guess what's going on right now."

Start by writing one of those (or something similar) down and then just see where it goes. It can end up being totally meaningless or extremely useful. Either way, what's important is that you got something down on paper, you had a chance to explore your character and worked out whatever monkey wrench was getting in the way of your writing.

Once you've finished that letter, consider having her write a letter to someone else and see what else shows up. Or have one of your other characters write a letter about the same event or experience.

The other thing you can do is jot down good opening lines to use the next time you hit a snag and want to use the Dear Jane, Dear John Technique. It will save you from having to think of an opening line.

So what are you waiting for? I'm sure your character owes someone a letter or eMail.


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