In my last post, I discussed putting your characters in impossible situations. Paint them into a corner. When writing books, the more difficult you make it to your hero, the more heroic they become. Also, it makes it a lot more exciting for the reader.

Now, if you come up with an obstacle and you know how your character is going to get out of it, chances are the obstacle isn’t hard enough. In the previous post, invisible imps hunted Alex, Emma, Pimawa and Savachia. When I wrote that scene, I had no idea how they were going to get out of it. That can frustrate when you’re a new writer, but it’s exactly what you want. So here are some simple steps I used to figure it out.

1 - Walk Away

Yep. Any time I get stuck, I walk away. Doesn’t sound terribly heroic, does it? Here’s the thing. The worst thing you can do is sit and stare at a blank screen. I have a set amount of time each for writing. Usually four hours. That’s four hours of writing, not banging my head against the desk or deciding it’s time to clean all that nasty gunk build up on my mouse. If I get stuck during my writing time, I skip past that part and keep moving. I’ll figure it out later.

2- Always Carry A Notebook

There are many reasons you should always have a notebook in your pocket. We’ll cover the coolest one today. And that is, you never know when a solution to your character’s obstacle will pop into your head. It’s a funny, magical bit about writing. You can walk away from the work, but your brain keeps working on it. Not that you’re aware that your brain is sneaking in overtime, but it does.

The trick to this is you honestly cannot actively think about your story. Not even a little. I like to walk my dogs. If I’m walking my dogs and trying to figure out how the kids escape the imps, it’s not going to happen. When I walk my dogs, I stay focused on them. Easy to do, considering they’re all rescues with some behavioral issues. So my mind is 100% thinking about my dogs. That’s when the secret story factory hidden deep in your brain gets to work.

I was walking Weezy one day, looking for other dogs so I could see how she was progressing, when my secret story factory sent up an idea like a firework. What if Imps are afraid of fire? Well, that’s good, but where would the fire come from? You can’t have your character randomly whip out a torch. That’s when my super secret story factory said, “Remember the woofle dust?”.

Boom! There it was! Those of you who have read the first two books know what I'm talking about. Here was a solution that was already in the story. It made perfect sense! Also, it made fire! And that’s why I always have a notebook in my pocket. Or you can use a voice recorder on your phone. Whatever works for you.

3 - The Solution Has to Make Sense

The Woofle Dust illustrates my last tip perfectly. If, suddenly, Emma had high level Navy Seal fighting skills and defeated the imps, it would be silly. Your solution has to fit your story and your character. These are things you may have already set up in your story or you might have to go back and set up in a rewrite (yes, all writing is rewriting).

Alex is the over thinker. He has to know how everything works and is convinced he can solve any problem, given enough time. In this case, he used his Sherlock Holmes deduction skills to find the woofle dust solution. And it worked! And it was a solution that fit the character.

That’s it for today. One of the cool things about writing fantasy books for kids is that your obstacles and solutions are a lot more fun than real life. Remember that when you’re playing Dr. Evil and devising sinister obstacles for your characters.