There’s a scene in my current novel that’s bedeviled me from the start. Twice now, I’ve started to write it, and twice it’s gone nowhere. It’s not a complicated scene; there are two characters (three if you count the dog - my stories always seem to have a dog) meeting in a run-down office. The younger character has brought the older one a donut as a peace offering, and is wheedling to get his job back, even though he hates the work. Though the scene is brief, it feels important to the overall story, which is why I’ve been so frustrated that it hasn’t materialized. This morning, while free-writing, the solution came to me like a bolt from the blue.

I’ve found that whenever I’m stuck like this, free-writing helps break up the clogs. This morning I began with a whine about how hard the scene was to write. Then I jotted down exactly what the problem was, something I’ve not nailed down until today. It turns out that although I know my younger character (the protagonist) well, the older character was still a black box to me. Until I knew who he was and what motivated him, there was no way to write the scene.

Like automatic writing, his history spilled onto the screen. A wife I hadn’t previously considered appeared. There was a failed career as a musician, a spate of drinking, the loss of that wife. Suddenly things made sense! The broken-down sixty-something who manages the crime and trauma cleanup company had a backstory that led him inevitably to his current state. Armed with that knowledge, it became clear what attitude he would have about his young protegé; why the same reason he likes having him around meant he had to fire him and push him out into the world.

The curious thing about this revelation is that I seem to have known it for some time. I’ve been battling the same scene repeatedly, doggedly determined that it would find its place in the story. What I hadn’t done is stop and listen to what the story needed. Once I gave up trying to power through it and just sat back to take dictation from my subconscious mind, things became clearer. Lesson learned; sometimes to be a good writer it helps to be a good listener.