Make it through the MIDDLE

What's the hardest part of a book to write? Most of our club members agree, it's the middle! The beginning is the fresh and exciting part of a new story, the end is a terrific climax, but then what do you do about the morass in the middle?

First of all, you've got to keep in mind what the middle of a story is for. Here's what we came up with in our meeting:

• Rising action
• Getting to know the characters
• Letting conflicts brew
• More obstacles!
• Preparing for the CLIMAX
• Discovering backstory

So how do you keep the reader's interest through the middle of the story? Here are a few tips:

Pinch and Turn

Move your plot along with pinches and turns. A pinch is something that makes things harder for your characters. A turn is an unexpected change in the story, something that alters the character's plans. Don't let your characters have an easy ride through the middle, or your reader might feel like its time to put down the book and go and make themselves a ham sandwich.

Vary the Tension

You've seen that plot diagram that shows the rising action climb in a nice steady, straight line toward the climax? Well, forget it. That's BORING. While you want there to be an overall climb in tension toward the climax, you've got to have some ups and downs. Let your characters enjoy small victories, or get a moment or two to relax. But then drive the tension upward again with a pinch or a turn. Sorry, characters, nothing personal, we've got a job to do!

Try/Fail Cycles

As you move toward your climax, keep in mind that you don't want your character's final confrontation to be his or her first try! Whatever awesome thing your character pulls off at the climax, it should be something that your character attempted in the past and FAILED. For a character's success to be truly satisfying to the reader, that character should have tried at least twice before and failed in both attempts.

Pitfalls in the Middle

Here are just a couple of things to avoid in the middle of your story:

Useless Scenes

Okay, seriously, if a scene doesn't do anything, then leave it out! Sure, you can write it if you feel like it, but either cut it out of your second draft, or make it move the plot. Also beware of scenes that are exclusively for character development or setting description. You can always, always find a way to make those scenes contain events that are vital to the story, and unless you do, your reader is going to go for that ham sandwich and may never pick up your book again.

Inactive Characters

Make sure you give your characters something important to do during the middle of your story. Don't let them take a vacation just because the wonderful climax you planned for them is still a hundred pages away. At every point those characters should have plans and should be doing everything they can to carry out those plans, and you as the author can be pinching and turning things upside-down to upset those plans as much as possible.

Marvelous Middles

So enjoy writing the middle of your story. Some of the most wonderful moments can take place in the middle. It's a time to totally immerse yourself in the world and the characters of your creation.

Keep writing!