Hard Nut Scenes

We've all struggled with them. Hit them with all the brain power we can muster. And still, they just lay on the page, mocking us. You know you've had one, or twenty. (That's being conservative. ;-)

You know those scenes that are just not quite right. It's a scene you know you have to have to tell the story you're writing. So, what do you do about it? 

Check out this discussion on the Books and Writers Forum.
Here's a list of the suggestions made by the various writers. 

1. change the venue of the scene
2. explore alternative choices of action
3. give yourself more time
4. change POV for the scene
5. play with phrases to hunt for the kernel
6. pretend it's written and write the consequence scene
7. look for issues in the story that make the planned scene is not viable and decide if you need to  abandon this scene.

Now, which method will work for you? Or me? I have hard nut sitting on my desk right now. It's a booger and I need it to open up. Wish me luck! ;-)

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Useful Links!

I've got a bumper crop of links for you, too!

Check out Anne R. Allen's Ten Commandments of Social Media Etiquette for Writers  There's a lot of good info here.

From Writer Unboxed, try The Art of Creating Memorable Villains Whatever Your Genre

Besides you might be writing crap and that's okay. Read Charlotte Rains Dixon's The Benefits of Writing Crap to find out why.   ;-)

Have you ever heard to start in media res? If you want to know what it really means and how to do it, check out Kristen Lamb's Starting the Story "In the Action"...

Also check Kristen Lamb's post of Character Arcs.