Okay, this is a bit misleading. I wasn’t stuck in a place I didn’t want to be, desperate to get out. I am very grateful for my critique group. They are extremely helpful, most of the time. But then sometimes I get completely opposite views as to how my story should go and I end up more confused than I originally was. It’s those moments when you have to go with your gut instinct.
Now back to the ’stuck’ part. I was literally stuck in the parking lot after the critique group. When I go to the meetings, I have to drag my kids along and wait for my hubby to come pick them up after he drives back from work. At this point, we usually trade cars, him getting the larger of the vehicles to take the kids home. Instead of just handing me the whole keychain from his car like he normally does, he separated the keys, handing me what he thought were the keys to the other car. I stuck them in my pocket and didn’t take notice of them again. Until I tried to slide the key into my car door. What I discovered was that I was now stuck outside in the parking lot because the grocery store was closed, the bookstore was closed and everyone else was going home. I had to call my dear, intelligent husband and tell him he handed me the &**^%* wrong set of keys.
I was cold, I was tired, but fortunately I managed to get into the book store before it closed to use the restroom. (After a large ice coffee, that was a must.) I had 30 chilled minutes to go over the groups notes for my story, wondering what in the heck I was going to do with it. I still don’t know. I was too worried about being mugged while waiting to really concern myself with the story. Maybe I’ll dream a solution.
I hope you DID dream a solution. That sounds like a nightmare evening!
Actually I think I did. But more importantly, I was able to tap into the loneliness and the fear on a broader scale to use it in the story. All things happen for a reason.