So, I missed a blog post, and this one is late. I'd explain, but it's a lot of medical stuff that, honestly, I don't need to relive in text, and you probably have no interest in reading. Let's just skip it.
Let's talk about writing instead. Specifically, where do ideas come from, and why do they get stuck sometimes?
"Where do you get your ideas?" is one of the most common interview questions. Cole Porter famously said that all his ideas came from a Chinese man in Poughkeepsie. Most people answer with some version of "everywhere." Let's face it, people. We don't know where our ideas come from. We really don't.
Some of mine come from conversations overheard on trains, or weird dreams. Sometimes, as Stephen King explained the origins of stories, two previously unrelated ideas happen to collide while I'm doing dishes and staring into space. Some ideas are untraceable: By the time you're franticly scrabbling for a writing utensil, you've already forgotten how the story appeared. All that matters is that IT IS HERE NOW and IT'S ALIVE.
Someday, I'll probably have to answer that question about where ideas come from, and I won't say any of that. I'll say "I'm just weaving tapestries out of brain lint," or "I have a talking raven who dictates stories to me." (Where do those answers come from? Couldn't tell you.)
But sometimes, ideas get stuck.
Even when struck by inspiration like an apple to the head, you may only be able to find half of the apple. Maybe it split and some rolled down the hill. Maybe the core is mysteriously missing. It doesn't matter. The fact is, you're left there holding a piece of a shiny red story and the rest of it is maddening absent. You stare at the abrupt end, trying to figure out what the missing piece looks like. You can't go out and show the world this weird little fragment. They'll ask where the rest of it went. You're stuck.
At this point, you have two choices: Go looking, or start trying to complete the thing with whatever is at hand.
I have one simple tip for the first option. Put more stuff into your brain. Watch documentaries. Go listen to people talk. Google things related to your story, whether it's an image search of your location or a wikipedia entry of your character's favorite color. The missing chunk is out there somewhere. When you finally find it, it will hit you so hard you'll go cross-eyed.
The second option, you might not like, but desperate times call for desperate measures. If you're really stuck, write junk. Stuff random words in there until it starts to look like a complete shape again. There's plenty of time to polish it later. Just put any old anything in there to show the story that you won't be intimidated. A dog walks by. The love interest grows a second head. Anything. Let it get weird. You'd
be surprised how often the missing piece shows up when you stop looking for it.
Caffeine and alcohol can also be helpful, but they are, at best, unreliable coworkers.