An idea for a great character drops into your mind. Then, you compose what you believe to be a magnificent first sentence, “Two hours before Simon’s life took a nightmarish turn for the worse, he stood in his grimy bathroom, under the dim light of a single yellow bulb, hacking away at his shaggy brown hair with his ex-wife’s dull garden shears.”

            As you write the last word of that sentence, you feel triumphant.  In fact, you are so bold as to say the word, “Brilliant!” out loud.

You spend the next few days, months, or maybe years finishing your first draft. Later, when you read your manuscript in its entirety, with a sinking heart, you realize your opus is more blah than brilliant.

You can’t pinpoint the problem. Could it be the circuitous plot, droopy narrative tension, clunky dialogue, wonky flow, flat tone, loathsome main character, or perhaps, the limp ending?

Your brain is fried. All you know is that your story is not the Great American Novel you’d envisioned. You feel stuck, sad, and too embarrassed to get input from a trusted colleague.

            No worries. Give your muddled mind a break. Unstick your stuck story by using the Pixar, Indiana Jones, Jerry Seinfeld technique. With any creative endeavor, when you’re blocked, the best strategy to use is to lighten up, loosen up, and let your brain breathe. (I know that lungs are the body parts that accomplish the breathing, but I love the oxymoronic image of a brain breathing.) Watch how the Pixar folks handle story telling. Check out a clip from Indiana Jones that portrays how to gain empathy for a character. Listen to Jerry Seinfeld’s thoughts on structure and timing. For an added boost, read the book I suggest. This process will cheer you, clear your brain and re-orient perspective on your work. Best of all, watching the clips and reading the book entails little effort and no risk.  As simplistic as this seems, the process opens my eyes to problem areas in my manuscript. The links are all in this blog post:

**This PIXAR video describes the “spine” of a story. Watching the description of simple story elements will help think about your own story structure.

**Here’s more advice from Pixar about storytelling in general. Go through the list of twenty-two suggestions. See if any apply to your manuscript.

**If your issue is an unsympathetic character, use the “save the cat” method for engaging a reader/viewer. Create a scene that leads your audience to believe that even though your character is flawed, she/he is a good person who deserves their empathy. Check out examples of this approach.

**If you think your problem is pacing, story structure or timing, watch Jerry Seinfeld talk about how he writes a joke. He walks the viewer through his process, touching on each of those elements of writing. Here is a clip of his helpful suggestions

**Want to delve into the topic more deeply? Lisa Cron’s book Wired for Story  discusses “what the brain craves from every tale it encounters what fuels the success of any great story and what keeps a reader transfixed.”

So, when your brilliant idea devolves into a blah manuscript, give your brain a sabbatical. Watch these clips, read the book, then chill as you wait for a new perspective reveal itself to you. Bottom line, I’ll bet you get unstuck.