probably youve had someone ask you this before, but any advice for when you really want to know what happens next in the thing youre writing but when you sit down to actually write all thoughts flee your head?
Provided that like writer's block / burnout isn't going on (which can both cause this phenomenon and frankly both need quite different approaches to deal with), I have a few things I do to tackle the sort of 'I want to know what happens next but when I sit down all the thoughts go.'
I daydream pretty excessively about what's coming next. I actually think that's a crucial part of my process, and sometimes I'll even kind of verbally act out some of the lines etc. If I like the way something feels or sounds, I'll put little sentences or half-sentences down in the Notes app on my phone. Even if I don't remember everything exactly, it gives me something to go on. :D
If I have lots of different ideas, I'll write the two or three that I like the most in point format. Sometimes all the thoughts vanish because you're putting so much pressure on yourself to find the exact right thing to write, and it's really important to kind of learn how to gently quieten the perfectionist - because that's a Perfectionist voice - and perfectionism is the enemy of creativity. So if you sit down like 'what do I do next I have all these thoughts oh god what one is the right one none of them feel right I have to find the right one,' that's a trap. I think we all get that anxiety (or some of us do), and it comes in like a false compass, convincing us that there is only one path to what comes next. And that's not true. There's a thousand things you can choose, including the one that's easiest, the most fun, the most interesting to you, the most curious, the most dramatic, the most anxiety-provoking etc.
Notepad and pen, or Notes app, whatever it is, it can be worth jotting down the thoughts outside of 'writing time.'
Don't write what comes next as soon as you sit down if you don't know what comes next, write the bit you can imagine or think of. Write something that you can imagine happening a bit later, maybe even in the same chapter. I can't tell you how many chapters I've started about 'two pages in' and then go back and fill in the beginning. And remember, if you can write something in the future, that's still something you can use for your story anyway, so the writing session was still productive!
Use the tools around you to get back into the feel of the story. Sometimes the thoughts go because you might not be in your character's head-space, or you might not be feeling the setting of your story. I liberally use playlists to deal with this issue, because music helps me get into a character space, a chapter space, an emotion space. You might need complete silence, or you might need to reread a section of your writing, or the chapter that went before. Let the story tell you where it needs to go next:
Often, based on what you have set up, your characters will only have a certain number of paths they can go in that will make the most sense for where they're at psychologically and emotionally. Or basically 'how Peter feels will make him decide what he wants to do next.' Another version is 'Peter feels like this because this is what the plot is doing to him.' Your characters are reacting and acting throughout their entire 'lives' in your story, so sink into what you know of them - are they reacting to the plot right now? Are they acting as the plot right now? Is it a mix? Sometimes the thoughts disappearing can be what I think of as me trying to impose something that doesn't quite work on the characters, because I've stopped listening to them or because I've imagined something for them that doesn't fit yet. While not everyone is as character driven as I am, the whole 'what is my character doing, what does my character want, what does this mean re: what happens next' helps so much when I sit down and have no idea what to write next.
And finally, this is something I think a lot of writers would benefit from who struggle to 'get started': Don't end your writing sessions when you feel 'finished.' Leave a paragraph or sentence half done, that has an easy ending. This way when you sit down to do your writing session next, your mind will reach for that ending (or a version of it) and you'll immerse back into the story a lot faster than starting fresh with a new sentence or paragraph. This can be a really successful exercise for some people. 'Finish before you finish' basically.
Okay I think that's a good start. There's definitely more tools that can be added to your toolkit if this is an issue. It's also worth sitting down and asking if you're burnt out and/or experiencing other structural issues with the story. During part of Falling Falling Stars where the pace had previously been slower (the Forest arc) I realised we were way closer to the end than I thought and resisted it, trying to keep that slower pace. I had a lot of writer's block around then, and a lot of my ideas 'vanished' because there was a deeper urge to do justice to the story by picking up the pace and closing it off sooner than I expected.
Obviously I don't know what's going on, but it never hurts to have more tips / tools to deal with 'all my thoughts disappeared what do I write next.' Personally, I think the story and characters will tell you, if you give them to time to talk to you, but I'm weird that way.
