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Source: Englishtown Lesson

Stuck for an angle for a story, Lukas took himself out onto the streets and let himself be inspired by the people and things around him.

What does "stuck for an angle" mean in the above context? What can be used instead of that phrase?

J.R.
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AR AM
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    It's actually not `(stuck for an angle) for a stroy` it is `stuck for (an angle for a story)`. An angle for a story is an idiom for "a way to make a story interesting". Sometimes you hear reporters say "I need an angle" or you hear a hustler/scammer say "there's an angle to get in". An "angle" is a small interesting fact you can exploit. – slebetman Apr 07 '17 at 02:22

2 Answers2

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An "angle" is a perspective on a story, a way to tell it, a way to frame the details so that it would be interesting to the readership.

When a person is "stuck", they're unable to make progress, like a car whose wheels are "stuck in the mud". If you're trying to solve a math problem, for example, but you can't envision the solution, you can say "I can't figure it out. I'm stuck."

for there means "with respect to".

The author is not making any progress with respect to thinking of an interesting way to tell the story.

Tᴚoɯɐuo
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To answer your question "What can be used instead of that phrase", you could instead use:

Lukas was unsure as to how to proceed/approach/go about doing something.

Jamie Butterworth
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    Welcome to ELL, Jamie. Generally, we prefer answers that contain a bit more explanation about why the answer is right, together with links to appropriate references. In this case, you could provide a link to a definition of angle like this one: **angle noun [ C ] (WAY OF THINKING) C1 a way of considering, judging, or dealing with something** from the Cambridge Dictionary. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/angle – JavaLatte Apr 07 '17 at 10:20