I’ve had this question for a while that I call “the faucet metaphor.” When writing fiction is flowing, it really flows. When it’s stuck, it’s stuck. How do I get control of, agency over the faucet? How do I make it more likely, frequent, easy—even guaranteed—to be in a state of mind where I can write fiction?
Flowing fiction comes from a right-brain state of mind. When it’s flowing, let it flow!
It’s helpful to have the state of the project at hand, top of mind, in recent memory.
The original seed of a project comes from inspiration, intuition, the Muses—the right hemisphere!
If there is a seed, there is a whole plant latent inside, waiting to come out. With care, patience, effort—the right circumstances—it will come out in time!
It’s helpful to have a sense of which scenes or chapters I would like to write next. Priming intuition by giving the subconscious an assignment.
In order to do that, U need a larger sense of things—of the whole—a list of scenes, for example, or an outline of the whole plot.
Such a list is, by and large, in the domain of the right hemisphere.
When stuck: re-read the entire work.
When stuck: apply the left brain. Make lists. Make spreadsheets. Do formulaic scene-building, character-planning, worlding. Think about the story, reflect on it analytically.
Be willing to make scratch sentences, scenes, chapters. Write sections as crap U plan to throw out, just as an exercise and brainstorming.
Skill-building and deliberate practice is actually in the domain of the left hemisphere. Reflecting on weaknesses and growth areas and devising intentional ways to work on those skills is an important part of improving over time.
Originally authored in November 2025. See also Julian Shapiro’s Creativity Faucet article.