I'm unable to figure out the logical solution to a problem; how do I keep writing?
I'm outlining the plot for a scifi screenplay. I have the main characters, premise, the first half of the story, and the climax thought out. I don't want to bore you with details, but the story involves an enemy who can perfectly anticipate your moves. The main character needs to figure out how to defeat this enemy.
The problem is that I don't know the solution to the logical problem I've created here. I don't know how this enemy might be defeated (I have ideas for the climax, but I'm not sure how to resolve the mini conflicts that lead up to that climax). I'm sure if I keep writing something will come to me; it's happened in the past when continuing to churn out words generates ideas and connections and solutions. But I seem to be at a point where I really do need to resolve this to connect the midpoint of my story and the ending.
Do you have any ideas for how I can keep writing when I don't yet know the logical solution to a problem the main character is facing? Any ideas for what I could focus on writing, till the idea presents itself?
Thanks!
Details if they're useful: I'm aiming to write a screenplay. Right now I'm writing the treatment, so I'm trying to have every major scene and event down on paper (based on what I have I think this will come out to 10-15 pages).
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Worldbuilding SE can help you with a specific solution to your logic problem, but in terms of writing I'll offer a general solution to how to solve such a problem.
If you're not sure how to move the plot from point A to point C via point B, then don't focus primarily on the plot for the solution. You can try to focus on how you will develop your characters, relationships, or even just the setting through that time.
If your protagonist is cowardly at point A, and brave at point C, then think about what happens at point B to make this character overcome their fears and start to develop their character.
If a couple is married at point A and divorced at point C, think about what might have happened at point B to cause their marriage to break down.
Allow the development of the plot to come from the development of the characters, rather than the other way round.
This doesn't need to happen all of the time, but I find that when I am stuck for something interesting that should happen to move my story along, I think about how my characters will move along, and this helps me to think about what should happen plot-wise in order for the characters to move along in that direction.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/19858. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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but the story involves an enemy who can perfectly anticipate your moves.
This happened more than once on Leverage (a totally fun Robin Hood heist-of-the-week show; I highly recommend it). The Leverage crew is made of five bad guys who have gone good and run cons to benefit people. Unfortunately, after a while, each person's reputation becomes known, and others can predict their moves.
The episode which might help you is "The Last Dam Job." Nate, the mastermind, hires five other people to do the jobs of his crew. The idea is that the crew has a mastermind, a grifter, a hacker, a hitter, and a thief, but the replacement crew has entirely different patterns and methods than the standard crew, and the bad guys can't anticipate what they don't know.
If your antagonist can predict your protagonist, have your protagonist present as a decoy, while someone else is running the actual operation in the background.
For a simpler example, in Lord of the Rings, Sauron knew who Aragorn was and what he was capable of, and could anticipate and counter the army of Men and allies who battled him at the Black Gate. He didn't know about hobbits, and nobody suspected that any individual hobbit was capable of such strength and sacrifice. The hobbits were the real key to defeating him.
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