Stuck on your nonfiction draft? Find the real cause, then fix it

Why "just keep writing" is not enough

The standard advice for being stuck is to push through. Sometimes that works. But for professionals writing nonfiction, being stuck is often a signal that something upstream is missing. Pushing through a section with no clear point produces pages you will delete. Pushing through without a story produces abstract advice nobody remembers.

The Scribe Method's chapter on beating writer's block names three main causes: fear, a poor plan and a lack of genuine interest in what you are writing. That is a useful frame. In our experience with business and expert books, the poor plan usually shows up in one of a few specific ways. Below are the most common, how to recognize each one and what to do about it.

The 60-second diagnosis

Before you try any fix, answer these four questions about the section you are stuck on. The first "no" is usually your cause.

Cause 1: you do not know the point

What it looks like. You write a paragraph, delete it, write a different paragraph that says something else, delete that. Or you write a lot, but when you read it back, it wanders. You have material, but you cannot tell what it adds up to.

Why it happens. You know a lot about the topic, so it feels like you should be able to write about it. But knowing a topic is not the same as having decided what this specific section argues. Experts often have five points they could make, and the draft keeps switching between them.

The fix. Stop drafting and write one sentence: "The point of this section is that..." Finish it with a claim someone could disagree with. "Leadership matters" is not a point. "Most new managers fail because they keep doing their old job" is.

If you cannot finish the sentence in ten minutes, try this: write the question the reader has at this point in the book, then answer it in one sentence as if they asked you in a hallway. The hallway answer is usually the point.

The Scribe Method's chapter on creating a book outline asks for a one or two sentence thesis statement for each chapter, for exactly this reason. If you did day 6 of the challenge, you already have one per chapter. Read it before you start each session.

Cause 2: you are missing a story

What it looks like. You know the point, and you can state it. But every sentence after it is general advice: "It is important to communicate clearly with your team." The writing feels flat and you know it, so you stop.

Why it happens. Advice without an example is hard to write and harder to read. Your brain knows the section needs something concrete and it is waiting for it.

The fix. Go to your story bank from day 4 and find a story that proves the point. If there is not one, ask: when did I first learn this? When did I see someone get this wrong? Which client would I call to explain it? Write that story first, then write the advice after it. The advice will come much more easily once there is a scene to hang it on.

Here is a short before and after we wrote to show the difference.

If you have no story at all for a section, that is useful information. Either the section is too abstract and should be cut or merged, or you need to go and get the story by asking a client or colleague.

Cause 3: you are writing for the wrong reader

What it looks like. You keep explaining basics, then cutting them because they feel condescending. Or you use jargon, then stop to define it, then lose the thread. The voice keeps shifting. You are not sure how much the reader already knows.

Why it happens. You are writing for two or three different people at once: a peer who will judge your expertise, a beginner who needs the basics, and maybe your old boss. Each one needs a different book.

The fix. Go back to the reader you described on day 2 of the challenge and write the section as a letter to that one person. Use their name at the top of the page if it helps; you can remove it later. The Scribe Method's chapter on writer's block suggests the same thing, crediting John Steinbeck's advice to write for one specific person instead of a general audience.

If your day 2 reader no longer feels right, it is worth a short session to redo it. A wrong reader at the start causes problems in every chapter.

Cause 4: perfectionism, or fear

What it looks like. You rewrite the same opening sentence ten times. You reread yesterday's pages before writing anything new, then spend the session fixing them. Or you sit down, feel a heavy reluctance and find something urgent to do instead.

Why it happens. Professionals are used to producing work that is ready to send. A first draft is not supposed to be ready, but it can be hard to switch that standard off. Underneath perfectionism is often a fear: that the book will be judged, that peers will think less of you, that a story is too personal. The Scribe Method calls fear the most common root cause of being stuck, and suggests asking yourself directly what you are afraid of.

The fix. Give yourself explicit permission to write badly. The Scribe Method's chapter on the first draft asks you to promise out loud that you will not edit until the draft is done. Some practical ways to make that real:

• Write today's words in a new, separate document so you cannot see yesterday's pages.
• Turn off spell check while drafting.
• Write "DRAFT, nobody reads this" at the top of the page.
• If a specific fear is behind it, write the fear down in one sentence, then write the next section anyway. Naming it takes some of its weight away.

Two more causes worth checking

You do not care about this section

Sometimes the outline includes a chapter you think the book should have, not one you want to write: the obligatory history of your industry, or a section you added because a competitor's book has one. If you dread it every time, ask whether the reader actually needs it. If not, cut it. If yes, find the angle in it that interests you.

You are tired

If you are stuck on every section, not just one, the problem may not be the book. Check when you are writing. A session at the end of a twelve-hour day is a very different session from one before work. The guide on building a writing routine around a full-time job covers how to pick a better time.

When nothing works: talk it out

If you have tried the fix for your cause and you are still stuck, change the mode. Set a timer for ten minutes and explain the section out loud, into your phone's voice recorder, as if a client just asked you about it. Most professionals explain their ideas out loud every day, and it is often easier than writing. Then write from the recording, or from memory while it is fresh.

Day 18 of the challenge is built around this, for the chapter you have been avoiding. You can use it on any day you are stuck.

The skip rule

If you have spent a whole session on one section and still cannot move, skip it. Write a bracket note, such as [stuck: do not know if this is about pricing or positioning], and move on to the next section. A first draft does not have to be written in order. Your reverse outline on day 29 will collect every skipped section, and by then the rest of the book has often answered the question that stopped you.