The Bump

[Liam Sweeny]

Hey everyone. I'm working on my third novel right now. I should say my *fourth* novel, but my *third* novel didn't get past "the bump."

I've noticed in my writing that "the bump" occurs at approximately 20,000 words. Blocked after that. I passed it with this new work, but I had to take two weeks off when I hit it. So, I'se wondrin'... is there something to a 20K word "bump"???

[spyscribbler]

I've got that same bump, about 18 - 23,000 words. What's great is that once past it, things fly! The only way I get through it is to grind it out, letter by letter. Difficult, but effective!

Skipping to an action or sex scene sometimes helps, LOL.

[J.D. Rhoades]

Or blow something up.

[Pepper Smith]

For me, the bump happens wherever I am in the writing process that I begin to wonder if what I'm writing is going to interest anyone but me, or if I really know where I'm going with the story. The arrival point of the bump depends on the project.

[Liam Sweeny]

I get out the drawing pad. Seriously. flow charts, diagrams, etc.... It's like I have to know the geometry, if that makes sense. I usually don't know what the story is about 'til I hit the bump.

[Pepper Smith]

I have 3-D house design software specifically for planning out what the places I've set my stories in look like and where things are. It helps me visualize things better. Outlining never works for me. If I spend that much time writing it down, I'll never actually write the story.

[Vicki Delany]

I've heard it called the soggy middle, and that's exactly where I am right now. The beginning flows easily because you're getting all the characters in place and the plot started. The ending just about writes itself because you're getting to the climax and the excitement is building. But how to get through that soggy middle is always my challenge. In the book I'm writing now, I just can't think of how Seargant Winters figues out that XX is the heroin dealer. Someone could tell him, of course, and that's the way it usually works in real life, but that doesn't seem all too exciting.