How Structure Created Freedom in My Novel (and My Life)

Clarity creates freedom. Freedom creates flow. Flow creates magic

Two months ago, I hit a wall.

Not the “I’m a little tired today” kind of wall, the kind that shows up like fog, thick and cold, and settles over everything you try to write.

I was around chapter eight or nine (the exact number doesn’t matter; the feeling does). I knew exactly where I wanted Astra and Logan to end up. I knew the emotional arc. I knew the curse-breaking moment. I knew where the McEllis cousins needed to grow, shift, and awaken.

But I was stuck on their journey between meeting and curse breaking.

Writing the next steps was like wading through mud.

Every time I opened the manuscript, my fingers hovered over the keys like they were waiting for permission to move. I could see the end of the story like a glimmer on the horizon… but the path to get there? Nothing but fog.

Writer’s block isn’t always a lack of ideas. Sometimes it’s the opposite. It’s having too many possibilities and no structure to hold them.

During one of my brainstorming sessions, something became crystal clear: I didn’t need more inspiration. I needed direction.

So I stopped trying to force the next chapter. I closed the manuscript. Instead I created a full outline.

I had always seen an outline as a cage for the story leaving no room for creativity. I had never seen it as a skeletal roadmap the broad beats, the emotional threads, the key revelations, the big magic moments, without micromanaging every detail.

The moment that outline existed, something inside me unlocked and the floodgates opened for the my river creativity.

I wrote four chapters in a month. Four chapters that felt alive. Four chapters that moved the story forward in ways I had been trying (and failing) to force.

The outline didn’t restrict me. It set me free.

Here’s the part I didn’t expect:

I think sometimes we resist structure because we’re afraid it will limit us. We want to be spontaneous, creative, wild, intuitive. We want to follow the spark, the whim, the magic.

But the truth is this:

✨ Structure creates freedom.

✨ Boundaries create room for flow. 

✨ Direction creates space for creativity.  

✨ Clarity creates momentum.

When we build a framework around our energy, our desires, and our dreams, it doesn’t cage us; it gives the magic somewhere to go.

Right now, I’m closer to completing the first draft of Bound by Flame than I’ve ever been. And that river of creativity is still flowing. It's still pushing this story exactly where it needs to go.

All because I stopped resisting structure and created a map.

Whether you’re writing a novel, building a dream, or just trying to get through the week: If you’re feeling stuck, it might not mean you’re out of magic. It might mean you need a little structure...just enough to set your spirit free again.

Suzette R Berry💜