It’s a silly trick, and I mentioned it on Monday, but it really works for me. I know I took the words “Goat Cheese” specifically from another writer I follow on Twitter, but I don’t recall who specifically it was.
The idea is simple. Any time something needs to be ignored-for-now and clarified later (or written later) I just put in big bold letters the words “GOAT CHEESE” surrounded by square brackets. That’s it. Skip anything super difficult right now, and come back to it later with a simple Find command in your word processor of choice.
I don’t think I’ve ever written a story with any cheese in it, much less goat cheese, so there’s no worries about that coming up (and even if it did, it would be pretty clear by context whether it’s supposed to be there or not!) and it’s a nice little reminder not to get too hung up on the details, but rather to focus on the big story and then come back for the little details later.
As mentioned, I did that with the chapter I had been really struggling with… and boom, wrote most of the next chapter within a few hours. Progress! It feels nice, not gonna lie.
So just a reminder out there to anyone else who writes and reads this blog… if you’re stuck, just move on to the next thing. But do put in a note or a flag or something, whatever works for you, to make sure you go back and fill in that hole later!
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!