Do you want to know what the most frustrating part of the writing process is? Filling in the gaps! I have tons of great ideas for scenes that I can't wait to write—but I have to fill in the space between those scenes, and keep it interesting enough that whoever's reading will keep reading.
"Fillers" are generally time skips in the process, anywhere from a few hours to a few decades. They're necessary, but they are so dull to write. I can't count the number of times I've finished a really good scene or segment that I really like and have plans for the next big event, but there's space I have to fill in first. The hardest part is making that "filling" significant to the plot itself. If it's not important, it doesn't belong in the first place, because it really is just stuffing. I mean the stuff in pillows and quilts, not in your Thanksgiving turkey. Several times I've reached a point that needed "filling" and stopped writing, to pick up again months later and, in the case of one story I wrote, more than a year later!
It really is the details that are the most important, but when you're like me and just want to skip the frosting and get right to the cake, it's hard. Especially when I have so many fun and exciting scenes bouncing around in my head! But the best piece of advice I have, for myself and any other writer out there, is to persevere! Keep writing even when it sounds like crap. If you can't come up with anything in your current project, switch to a different one or start a new one. But don't forget to come back! There have been a number of times when I've come back to a story after a break, sit down in front of the keyboard, and literally just start typing, and then magic happened. The hard part was letting it happen.
Something else I like to do is write down the main ideas for those other fun scenes, if not write out the whole thing, while I'm trying to fill in some space, and then copy and paste later on. It gets those ideas out of my head and onto paper, leaving my mind free to come up with some clever detail that by the end of the story will suddenly become an important link in the plot! I've also been known to tinker with different points of view, especially when I'm having trouble with a character. It's amazing how much you learn about a character by spending some time in their shoes. Then, when you switch back to the main character and the main point of view, it's suddenly easier to write those interactions.
I guess what I'm really trying to say is, don't ever give up. As a writer, you have a whole world at your fingertips that's just dying to be born. Let it. Even when you can't see where the story's going, your fingers do. Let them work, and you'll be surprised with what you end up with. It will be a hundred times better than what you originally planned.
