Have you ever started writing a scene that just didn't want to come out?
One of my writer's block busters is to put down the metaphorical pen, take out a figurative pencil, and start "sketching!"
Painters usually sketch out their work before painting. And graphic artists of all kinds are often seen stepping away from their canvas examine their work from far away to make adjustments to the sketch. The reason is that, if you focus for too long on a detailed area, you risk losing sight of the big picture, causing your work to appear disjointed.
As a writer, if I step back from my writing, I'd never get anything done. I could waste all night getting pizza and coffee, playing Candy Crush, or chasing the cat's laser toy (ooh, shiny!) Fortunately, you don't need to pry yourself away from the desk to get some perspective on your writing.
Stepping back, for me, means temporarily adopting a fresh point of view. I can still engage that part of my brain that wants to write by generating text. Switching POV allows me to step away from the scene proper by writing about the scene.
Ways to Switch Perspective:
Change character point of view (POV). If you're writing your novel from the protagonist's perspective, switch character. Write the scene from the antagonist's POV, or perhaps the love interest's. A side character such as the bartender listening to your character's tale of woe might even offer you, the author, a fresh set of eyes on what is happening.
Use a different Person. Unlike POV, Person is a grammatical term that refers to what pronouns are used to deliver your story. First Person is when your character narrates the story directly, referring to the self as "I/me/mine." Third Person is when you use pronouns such as he/him, she/her or they/them to describe your character's actions as from an outside perspective. If you're writing in third person, switch to first and let your character narrate the scene. Likewise, if you're writing in first person, start describing the scene as an outsider. This will change the flow of your story and allow you to get unstuck and move on with your scene.
Change tense. Another grammatical term, Tense refers to the sense of temporal context in which your story is delivered. When your character "speaks," "feels," and "acts," your writing is in present tense; when they "spoke," "felt" and "acted," it is written in past tense. Most adult fiction is written in past tense, unless there is a flashback sequence (usually written in pluperfect). Switching to present tense can help you get unstuck.
There is no rule that says when you need to switch back to your normal tense, person or point of view. Simply transition back when you are ready. It may help to leave yourself a comment or a mark to remember where your switch occurred, for when you edit later. I personally leave a line break with three asterisks, like this:
***
Once you've written your scene, you can go back and edit your tense to match the rest of your story. Remember, your writing is a work in progress. Now that you’ve given yourself something to work with, it should be easy to go back and fix the tense, person or POV.
Don't try to edit while writing. You use a different part to your brain to write than you use to edit. Keep that writing-center of the brain engaged, and you'll stay on a roll!
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