That scene where a character just sits down and eats a meal kept me stuck for 3 days

I was writing a mystery novel and had this detective character stop for lunch at a diner. I spent 3 whole days trying to figure out how to make it not boring. Every draft sounded like a grocery list or a commercial for the food. Finally I realized the scene worked when I focused on her noticing someone else in the booth instead of the sandwich itself. Has anyone else had a basic scene like eating or walking just completely derail their writing flow?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_emery8d ago

@daniel474 that diner trick just traded one boring scene for another using a distraction.

daniel4748d ago

That diner example actually just changed how I see writing scenes like this.

wendy3914d agoMost Upvoted

Well, I actually think @the_emery has a point here. Getting stuck on a meal scene for three days sounds like overthinking something that readers barely notice. Plenty of great books just skip the boring parts entirely and nobody complains.