Stuck In a Rut

Do you ever feel like you're stuck in a writing rut? As if all the stories you write are really similar with only the names are changed to protect the characters?

Sometimes I feel that way. I realized recently that I have a tendency to send my characters to the hospital. One or the other gets injured or someone in the family has a crisis. Whatever the circumstances, off they go to the hospital! It's alarming and annoying and I wonder why I do that. It's not like my family is constantly rushing off to the hospital. We've had a few emergency room or urgent care visits over the years. With four kids, that's inevitable. But it's not like we're constantly there.

So, why do I do it? The only thing I can think of is that stories need crisis and conflict to move
forward. Perhaps that's why I'm always sending them packing. One story I'm working on has both a nursing home AND a hospital involved. To be fair, one character is a doctor, but still! The trend is ridiculous. It has to stop. I need to go back and rewrite some of these stories so they aren't so predictable.

In the meantime, I'll work on other things and see if I can't avoid that writing rut. I'll work on my sci-fi. They're not anywhere near a hospital. They're fighting a battle and killing creepy lizard like aliens. They're freeing a planet from oppression as only the Galactic Marine Corps can. Lots of gunfire, explosions, fire bombs. Mayhem! Chaos!

Crap! That means injuries - which means medical treatment - which means a hospital.....

I can't win.

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