When Your Sprint Hits a Wall: A Writer's Survival Guide

You know that moment when you're in the middle of a writing sprint and suddenly... nothing? Your fingers hover over the keyboard. Your character is standing in a doorway (or a forest, or a spaceship, doesn't matter), you have absolutely no idea what they should do next.

We've all been there, probably more times than we'd like to admit.

The thing about writing sprints is that they're supposed to keep you moving forward, pushing through the internal editor, getting words on the page. But sometimes? Sometimes you hit a wall so hard that no amount of "just keep writing" will fix it.

Here's the tricky part: sprints walk a fine line. Sprint too recklessly and you end up with a tangled mess that's harder to edit than it would've been to just think for a minute. But stop to analyze every choice and you've killed the momentum entirely. You're not sprinting anymore, you're overthinking.

The goal is to stay in that sweet spot: moving fast enough to bypass your inner editor, but thoughtful enough that you're building something coherent. Think of it like driving. You don't slam on the brakes every few seconds to check your GPS, but you also don't speed through with your eyes closed hoping you end up somewhere useful.

The good news is that most sprint problems fall into some recognizable patterns. Even better news? Once you know what kind of stuck you are, you can get unstuck with a quick gut check, not deep analysis, just a 30-second mental reset that points you in a direction so you can keep your fingers moving.

Remember: sprints aren't about perfect words. They're about getting raw material on the page. You can always edit awkward prose later. What you can't edit is a blank page or a scene so disconnected from everything else that you can't figure out how it fits.

When You Hit the "I Don't Know What Happens Next" Wall

This is probably the most common place writers get stuck. You've just finished a scene, your fingers are poised over the keys, and... blank. Total blank.

Here's the secret: stop looking forward. Look backward instead.

Stories don't move forward randomly. They move through cause and effect. Something just happened in your last scene or chapter. What are the natural consequences of that event? Not the dramatic, plot-twisty consequences you think should happen, but the realistic ones.

Think about your character as a real person. How would they actually react to what just occurred? What would they feel? What would they do based on who they are, not who you need them to be for the plot?

And here's something we don't talk about enough: let your theme guide you. What's the point of your book? What are you really trying to say? When you're stuck on what happens next, your theme can be a compass pointing you in the right direction.

Let me give you an example on this one because theme/the point can be a bit vague. The theme or point of Brandon Sanderson’s book Tress of the Emerald Sea is ordinary people can be extraordinary through kindness and courage. You don’t have to be special to be a hero. Kindness is its own magic.
Some of the actions that show this is:

Tress ventures into danger to rescue someone she loves even though she has no special skills to do it, just the love and determination no one else has for him.
Tress befriends and reforms a crew of pirates by helping them with their problems, listening to them, cooking for them, and treating them like people worth caring about.

Tress has a chance to leave the ship and continue her mission of rescuing Charlie but realizes the crew needs help and decides to stay and help them.

Tress doesn’t beat the evil sorceress through her own power but through good observational skills and cleverness she got being a window washer.

Consider these questions:

• Plot: What external consequences naturally follow from what just occurred?

• Character: How does your character feel about what happened? What would they do based on who they are?

• Theme: What feels most true to what you’re trying to say with this story?

The "My Plot Doesn't Make Sense Anymore" Crisis

Oh, this one. This is the moment when you realize you've been writing yourself deeper and deeper into a tangle, and now you're holding a mess of threads that don't connect to anything.

First, take a breath. Then figure out what specifically feels off. Is your character's motivation unclear? Are there too many subplots competing for attention? Did your protagonist make a choice three chapters ago that made no sense, and now everything after it feels wobbly?

Here's an exercise that's saved me more times than I can count: try to write a 50-word summary of your story. Just 50 words. These 50 words say who your protagonist is and what big things happens to her from beginning to end. Spoilers are a must.

If you can't do it, you need to get crystal clear on the basics:

• WHO is your protagonist?

• WHAT do they want?

• WHAT is stopping them from getting it?

• WHAT happens if they fail?

• HOW does this story end? (Even if it's just your best guess right now)

Sometimes we get so deep into the trees that we forget what the forest looks like. This exercise pulls you back up to 30,000 feet so you can see the shape of your story again.

When Your Character Feels Like a Puppet

You're writing a scene and suddenly your character does something that makes you stop and think, "Wait, would they really do that?"

This is your instincts telling you something important: you've lost track of their motivation.

Characters need two things to feel real:

• An external goal (the plot thing they're trying to achieve)

• An internal need (the emotional thing they're actually searching for, even if they don't know it)

When your character starts feeling like a puppet you're moving through the plot, it's usually because one of these has gotten fuzzy. Get clear on what they want on both levels. The internal need is often the harder one to pinpoint but it usually relates to your theme. Think about who they are at the beginning of your story versus who they'll be at the end. Most importantly, ask yourself: what do they believe right now that makes this choice make sense to them?

Characters don't make choices because the plot needs them to. They make choices because of who they are and what they believe in that moment.

The Dreaded Corner You've Written Yourself Into

This one often sneaks up on you. You created a rule, maybe it's magical, maybe it's social, maybe it's just logistical, and it seemed like a great idea at the time. But now? Now it's blocking the exact thing you need to happen.

Maybe you established that your characters can't use cell phones (no reception in the mountains, dead batteries, whatever), and now you realize you need them to be able to communicate. Maybe you gave your protagonist a limitation that felt interesting but is now trapping your plot. Maybe the geography of your world means travel takes too long, or your character doesn't have enough money for the thing they need to do.

Here's how to work through it:

First, identify the specific corner. What CAN'T happen that you need to happen?

Then ask yourself: What rule am I treating as unbreakable? Can I actually break it? Is there a clever workaround I haven't considered?

Or think about it this way: What information, resource, or ally could appear that would change the game?
But if you can’t find a solution to suit you? Don’t stop the sprint and go back to fix it. That is not the intent of a sprint. Instead write yourself a clear note right there in the manuscript maybe in a different color. [NOTE: I changes my mind. They do have cell service here but only enough for text messages. Go back and revise earlier chapters to remove the “no reception” set up. Reason: They need to be able to “call” for help in Chapter 12.]

Then write the way you need to work and keep going.

Yes, you are creating a continuity problem. Yes, you will have to go back and edit. But that’s what editing is for and right now you are sprinting. You job is to get the story down not to have everything perfect. A little note like this helps your future self edit while still be able to maintain momentum writing now.

When Everything Feels... Boring

You're writing, the words are flowing, but something feels flat. There's no energy. No tension. You're bored writing it, which means your reader will be bored reading it.

This usually means you're missing conflict or stakes.

Ask yourself: What does my character have to LOSE if they fail? What's the worst thing that could happen right now?

If the answer is "nothing much" or "I don't know," that's your problem. Raise the stakes. Introduce an obstacle that makes everything harder.

The key is that it shouldn't feel random. it should feel like a natural consequence of the world you've built and the choices your character has made.

Let’s go back to Tress of the Emerald Sea. She stows away onto a merchant ship to find her love Charlie. It would have been very boring if she made it to the mainland with no problems right? What actually happened is that her ship was attacked by pirates, and she is forced to flee to the only “safe” place: a pirate ship. She then has to prove her worth, so she is not just tossed overboard.

Now the story just got more complicated and the stakes are not just not rescuing Charlie but also her own survival.

The Paradox of Too Many Good Ideas

Sometimes the problem isn't that you don't know what happens next, it's that you have three different ideas and they all seem equally good.

Here's what helps: do a quick mini-outline of each option. Just 3-5 bullet points showing where each path would lead.

Then ask yourself:

• Which creates more conflict?

• Which challenges my character more?

• Which moves me closer to my story's theme?

Usually one option will stand out as the right fit.

You Don't Have to Figure This Out Alone

Here's the truth: getting stuck is part of the process. It doesn't mean your story is broken. It doesn't mean you're doing it wrong. It just means you're human, and writing is hard, and sometimes we need fresh eyes to see what we can't see on our own.

If you've worked through these questions and you're still spinning your wheels, bring it to the group. Share where you're stuck, what you've tried, and what you think the problem might be. Let's use our collective wisdom to help you find your way forward.

That's the whole point of having a writing community, so that when you hit a wall, you don't have to climb over it alone.