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I’ve read that women’s intuition is a real thing—it stems from a woman’s ability to keep an eye on the periphery, store what she observes on a subconscious level, and then make connections with that information that a man’s more linear thinking can’t do.

It’s a gift. A talent.

And we know what God asks us to do with our gifts. We need to invest them to bring back a profit to the master. The servant in the parable of the talents who buried his talent to keep it safe, was not his master’s favorite. God wants a return on what he has invested in us.

When we writers hit a wall, get blocked, or just don’t know what to do next with our story, we tend to turn to others for help. It’s good to check your story line against a solid framework, like Bell’s Plot and Structure, and it’s great to let trusted friends have a read and give feedback, but don’t dismiss your intuition. God gave it to you so that you would use it.

Is your writers block presenting as a terrible blank first page? Let your intuition help you start out. Ignore the nagging voice that keeps asking if your idea will sell, and focus on what you love. Do you have a great character in mind? What places does that character naturally fit? Do you have a great setting you’ve always wanted to write about? Who would you naturally see there? Your answers will be all you own, springing up from your deep memory. Flesh out your people and your world and see what kind of stories build from there.
Not a seat of pants writer? It’s okay. Neither am I. Once you have a background built, feel free to plot with as much care and structure as your heart desires.

Do you have a great start on a story but you’ve hit a wall? Try this: Write a scene from sometime in your character’s past. Pick a time of transition or stress for your character: his wedding, her graduation, moving to a new school, losing a parent. Seat of pants this one for me. Don’t plot it out, just let your intuition carry the scene. What happens and how your character reacts to it should open up new connections in that subconscious of yours, where you have been storing little details about your story, but didn’t realize it. Of course, this scene won’t go into your book, but knowing your character better should help you move your story forward.

I secretly think all writers have women’s intuition, even the men. How else could we draw whole worlds out of our minds? Well, whatever you call it, intuition, imagination, inspiration, or just plain paying attention, don’t let this gift from God go to waste. Let your mind wander, to unstuck your work in progress.

Traci Tyne Hilton’s newest story, “Cupid’s Cappucino” is available just in time for Valentine’s Day! Find it in the romance collection. Heart Bouquets at amazon.com!

Traci Tyne Hilton is the author of The Mitzy Neuhaus Mystery Series, and one of the authors in the The Tangle Saga series of science fiction novellas. She was the Mystery/Suspense Category winner for the 2012 Christian Writers of the West Phoenix Rattler Contest, a finalist for Speculative Fiction in the same contest, and has a Drammy from the Portland Civic Theatre Guild. Traci serves as the Vice President of the Portland chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association.

Traci earned a degree in History from Portland State University and still lives in the rainiest part of the Pacific Northwest with her husband the mandolin playing funeral director, their two daughters, and their dog, Dr. Watson.

More of Traci’s work can be found at http://www.tracihilton.com