Writers in the Storm

by Sandy Vaile

A “saggy middle” is a common problem that is responsible for millions of unfinished and unpublishable manuscripts around the world. Don’t let yours be one of them.

When we start writing a novel we’re excited by all the possibilities of where our fascinating characters might take our intriguing concept. We dive in head first, typing furiously, limitless ideas swirling around our minds.

And then we hit the midpoint …

What is a story’s “saggy middle”?

A story sags when it loses focus anywhere between the midpoint and the climax because:

• There is such a lot going on that we can’t see how to tie all of the plot threads together; or
• Ideas dry up and we’re not sure how to get the characters to the final crisis; or
• The story seems to wander aimlessly and readers lose interest; or
• The midpoint crisis doesn’t have dire consequences; or
• Initial excitement for this story fades and the climax still seems a long way off.  

Any of these can result in the writing process coming to a grinding halt, enthusiasm wanes and the project is abandoned or comes to a weak finish.

But there are four simple strategies to avoid a saggy middle.

1. Find the story’s throughline.
2. Create a roadmap for where you’re headed.
3. Exploit existing conflicts.
4. Ensure characters have agency.

What the Midpoint Should Achieve  

“Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.” Kurt Vonnegut

This is especially true in the middle of a novel, where we risk getting side-tracked by interesting tangents and throwing in a bunch of random conflicts so we don’t lose the reader’s interest.

The truth is, writing the middle of the book is difficult because it’s where the meaty bits of the story are.

The middle is where the MC:

• Despairs that all is lost and they can’t possibly achieve their goal.
• Doesn’t want to keep struggling because the situation seems hopeless.

It’s a real emotional turning point, where they have a revelation about how their beliefs, values and/or approach has been wrong. They make a new plan to achieve their goal and go from reacting to events, to proactively problem solving.

Despite realising what continuing on this journey might cost them (and the stakes should be high) they determinedly recommit to achieving their goal.

#1 Find the Throughline

I believe the most important thing to get right is articulating the story’s throughline, because it clarifies what is truly important to the Main Character’s (MC’s) journey through this book, and naturally strips away all the bits that don’t need to be there to drive the MC to that end.

Picture the throughline as a thread that joins the beginning and end of the story, i.e.:

• Who the MC is at the beginning of the story; and
• Who they will be at the end of the story after they have overcome all kinds of difficulties and learnt what will actually make them happy or emotionally whole.

Who the MC is deep inside determines their external goal (what they want) and actions (how they will go about getting it), and these motivations stem from:

• What they believe will make them happy or emotionally whole; and
• Backstory events that formed the beliefs that are relevant to what they want in this story.

For example in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling, the throughline is Harry discovering the truth about who and what Sirius Black really is and the crime he was imprisoned for.

Staying focused on this throughline makes everything in the story cohesive and driven towards the one clear objective.

#2 Create a Roadmap

Uncertainty about the direction of the plot often results in a meandering narrative and slow pacing. Creating a roadmap gives you tangible targets to aim for and alleviates that lost feeling.

Fleshing out the scenes that will carry the MC from the midpoint crisis to climax, provides stepping stones to move the characters through the story, ensuring they take purposeful actions that are aligned to the throughline.

The large mid-section of a book sets-up everything we need for the climax and ensures the MC overcoming it feels like a true accomplishment.

Keeping in mind what the midpoint should achieve (above in What the Midpoint Should Achieve), include these things:

• Set-up the midpoint crisis, showing how difficult the situation is and what’s at stake if they fail.
• Throw a spanner into the spokes of the MC’s bicycle (so as to speak) with a shocking event or revelation that makes it seem like there is no way for them to reach their goal, e.g.:
  • Deliver their worst nightmare.
  • Take away their safety net.
  • Reveal a secret that could ruin them.
  • Make them so miserable they want to give up.
  • Have them learn something shocking about the antagonist.
• Ideally you want to make the MC’s emotional goal clash with their external goal to create a dilemma that will result in undesirable outcomes no matter which way they go.

For example –

If they tell the truth they will lose their job, but if they lie they will have to live with the risk of being found out later anyway.

• The resulting self-reflection shifts the MC’s perspective. They question their beliefs and approach to the situation, and then realise how they need to change (their beliefs or tactics) in order to succeed.
• Make a new-improved plan to achieve their goal and remind readers what’s at stake if they fail to achieve it. This is a good time to reveal more about the superiority of the antagonist’s skills and/or resources.
• Have the MC gather allies and supplies, or learn skills that will help them in the climax.

And if all else fails, write the ending first. Seriously, knowing what the MC’s life will look like after they have overcome the antagonist and achieved their goal, will trigger ideas for situations that will lead up to this.

#3 Exploit Conflicts and Increase Stakes

Exploiting conflict is a powerful strategy for keeping a novel’s middle tense and engaging. It drives the plot and ensures the story doesn’t lose steam before it gets to the end.

Ensuring there is something significant at stake if the MC fails to achieve their goals, will realistically push them to take desperate measures, as well as keeping readers on the edge of their seats waiting to see how the conflicts will be resolved.

When characters are put into difficult situations, it forces them to make tough decisions, adapt to new situations and grow in unexpected ways.

Conflicts can take various forms:

• External struggles against an antagonist.
• Challenging environments and situations.
• Emotional turmoil within themselves.

Developing a strong character arc, enables you to leverage the MC’s inner fears and false beliefs as a catalyst to force them into uncomfortable situations that highlight their shortcomings. Through their actions we learn about their strengths, flaws and desires, revealing their true natures.

Whenever possible, play conflicts off one another to create heightened levels of tension, and then increase what’s at stake if the MC fails, therefore making the situation desperate.

For example, if a detective is trying to solve a murder, you could use these conflicts:

• An external threat with the murderer hunting the detective. Increase the stakes by add a deadline.
• Personal conflict with a family member who becomes a suspect. Increase the stakes by having them kidnapped by the killer.
• A professional conflict with two detectives vying for a promotion and everything hinges on this case. Increase the stakes by having the killer make it look like the detective is involved.
• Leverage the detective’s childhood trauma of being raped, by making this a child abuse murder.

By leaning into a variety of conflicts, you create a complex and layered story that will captivate readers.

#4 Ensure Characters Have Agency

Ensuring characters have agency simply means having the MC make their own decisions and actively pursue their goals, so they can affect outcomes. It’s particularly important they develop more agency from the midpoint of the story because they are no longer just reacting to events or letting other characters take the lead. Now they shift to being proactive.

A proactive MC is essential for maintaining story momentum and avoiding a saggy middle.

When the MC actively pursues their goals and problem solves to overcome obstacles it:

• Draws readers along with them, eager to see how the story will unfold.
• Makes it easier for you to figure out what should happen next because there will be a cause and effect cycle, e.g. if they want X they have to do A, B, and C to get it.
• Inherently conflicts with the antagonist’s goals, keeping tension high.
• Reveals more of who the character is because they will approach problems differently to other characters, based on their desires, beliefs and fears. The way they approach a problem needs to be aligned with the book’s end goal, their motivations and what stage of changing their false belief they are at. In other words, it needs to be realistic within the scope of the story.

This constant drive to get what they want, ensures the plot is always progressing, which creates momentum in the story.

Using these four strategies will prevent you writing aimlessly towards a distant ending and getting stuck at the dreaded saggy middle, because it provides a meaningful and tangible direction for the story. The result is a cohesive plot with plenty of momentum that makes for a compelling read.

Are you stuck in a rut of writing novels you never finish, never submit or aren’t sure how to fix?

Join Sandy’s supportive Facebook community for Female Contemporary Fiction Authors who want to plan and finish novels traditional publishers can’t resist!

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About Sandy

Sandy Vaile is an internationally published author with decades of experience in the fiction industry, who empowers female contemporary fiction writers to plan and finish novels traditional publishers can’t resist, through fiction coaching, courses and developmental editing.

Sandy writes romantic suspense for Simon & Schuster US and, in her spare time, is a motorbike-riding daredevil with a sense of adventure. She is lucky enough to live in the McLaren Vale wine region, so there are plenty of excuses for cheese platters and bubbles.

www.fearlessprose.com

Top Image by Tep Ro from Pixabay

by Sarah “Sally” Hamer

All of our characters want something, right? Joan Wilder wants to save her sister in Romancing the Stone. Paul Muad’dib Atreides wants to avenge his father in Dune 2. Sully wants to be First Monster on the Scream Floor in Monsters, Inc. Jane Eyre wants to find a place to be happy. Katniss Everdeen of The Hunger Games wants to save her sister from the crazy world they live in.

I can go on forever.

Almost every story ever told has at least one character who has a specific, definable, understandable goal.

• So, how does the reader know what that goal is?
• How do we as story-tellers express that?
• Does the character actually state it? Yes.
• Does someone else tell the protagonist what it is they want? Yes.
• Can a story work if that goal is never clearly expressed? Yes.

It depends on the story and the person telling it.

One of my favorite movies is Little Shop of Horrors. Well, let me rephrase. I love the 1986 movie with Ellen Greene and Rick Moranis, with music by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman (HATE the theatrical ending. If you know, you know).

For what it’s worth, Menken has nineteen Academy Award nominations (he’s won eight which puts him in 3^rd place for the most won by one person), and is also one of the nineteen people who have achieved EGOT status for winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony award. Ashman was right in there with him until his death. If you’ve hummed a Little Mermaid, Aladdin, or Beauty and the Beast song, you’ve listened to their music. They also wrote the songs for the movie.

The “I Want” statement defined.

Menken made an NPR YouTube video in 2022 during the Covid shutdown and, during the show, explained the “I want” statement. When he and Ashman wrote the music for a show, they had to figure out the main character’s goal. Then, they created a song around it.

In Little Shop, Audrey tells Seymour that she wants “Somewhere That’s Green.” She was raised in the slums of New York City, believes that she is worthless and unlovable, hates her life, and, as her “I want” statement, desires a tract house with an enormous, 12-inch TV screen, somewhere besides the Skid Row where she always lived. Menken’s song moved the story along beautifully, which is his great talent, and, with that one song showed Audrey’s dream in a way that probably nothing else could have.

This moment is where your character steps up and says, “This is what I dream of.”

Alan Menken

The thing about the “I want” statement is that, it’s probably when the character is the most honest in the entire story.

Romancing the Stone

While Joan Wilder’s main goal is to save her sister from the bad guys, it shifts in the middle of the story. She has the treasure map, which is the ransom for her sister, in her possession. But, instead of just turning it over, she decides to find the “stone” of the title. She still plans to save her sister but she’s not going to make it easy for the bad guys.

With Jack’s help – he becomes the hero of the piece – she finds the stone and now has real negotiating power. She also steps out of her comfort zone and, for the first time, we see her for the strong woman she really is. And the treasure is her new self-confidence.

The Hunger Games

Katniss Everdeen’s “I want” statement is to keep her sister and mom safe. She immediately volunteers as tribute when Prim’s name is called, and then spends the rest of the series doing things that she believes will achieve her overarching goal. There isn’t a particular revelation in any of the three books/movies, where her “I want” shifts – it’s always about Prim – but she does things that go against her own moral values to stay alive so she can keep her promise. Her vow to save Prim overrides even her own personal safety. And the audience is very aware of it.

Monsters, Inc

Sully’s “I want” is very clear. He’s in a race to be the top Screamer. But underlying all that is the knowledge that his very world is dependent on the electricity the frightened children’s screams create. So, eventually, he has to choose between the good of the one as opposed to the good of the many. What a unbelievably hard choice! And what a wonderful solution they come up with. Regardless, its’s a beautiful story about how enemies can come together to make a better world.

What is your character’s “I want” statement? What do you, as the writer, want that character to have? Is it the same all the way through the story? Does the character say it out loud, or does the audience have to listen to actions very carefully?

My recommendation is always to watch as many movies and read as many books as you can, and try to determine that “I want” statement. It’s one of the best ways to learn how to apply it to your own stories.

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About Sally

Sarah (Sally) Hamer, B.S., MLA, is a lover of books, a teacher of writers, and a believer in a good story. Most of all, she is eternally fascinated by people and how they 'tick'. She’s passionate about helping people tell their own stories, whether through fiction or through memoir. Writing in many genres - mystery, science fiction, fantasy, romance, medieval history, non-fiction – she has won awards at both local and national levels, including two Golden Heart finals.

A teacher of memoir, beginning and advanced creative fiction writing, and screenwriting at Louisiana State University in Shreveport for over twenty years, she also teaches online for Margie Lawson at www.margielawson.com and hosts symposiums at www.mindpotential.org. Find her at info@mindpotential.org.

Top Image by Ria Sopala from Pixabay

by Ellen Buikema

We live in a world packed with distractions. Our attention is pulled in various directions keeping us from getting our tasks done.

Distractions can have an adverse effect on our mental health as well, possibly stopping us from achieving our goals. While these distractions aren’t necessarily going anywhere, finding ways to deal with and overcome them can help you stay on track and better focused.

Identify the cause of your distractions.

It’s difficult to overcome distractions unless you know what causes them - internal (exhaustion, lack of motivation, non-stop thoughts, wandering mind, worry), external (environmental stimulations including clutter, your computer, noise, people, phone).

Internal distractions can be hard to avoid.

• Make sure you are rested and have eaten before attempting a task requiring concentration. Tired, famished brains are easily distracted!
• Use positive imagery to deal with anxiety and worry.
• Speaking with a professional for support with managing internal disturbances may be helpful for some.

For external distractions:

• Set aside a particular time or space and request not to be disturbed.
• Keep your phone out of reach during that time and only use it during defined breaks.
• If there are still too many distractions, consider a place where you know you’ll be able to work undisturbed, like the library.

Break distraction habits.

To break distraction habits:

• Develop new habits to rid you of distractions and keep you focused.
• Look at your daily habits, and then start weeding those distractions one at a time.
• Schedule the most important tasks first.
• Try starting work earlier, include exercise, or meditate.

Changing habits may seem like a simple thing to do, but it takes dedication to pull it off. Sometimes a minor shift, only one habit change, is all you need.

Declutter your environment.

There’s a lot battling for your attention, so it’s important to free yourself from the obvious distractions. When your mind or workspace is cluttered it is easy to feel distracted. Try organizing your desk, or simply clear it.

With notifications popping up on the screen when you’re trying to focus, it’s frustratingly easy to become distracted. Find your worst distractions and eliminate them.

To assist in building your distraction-free zone:

• Use a website blocker.
• Wear noise-canceling headphones
• Grab a carafe of coffee, and decide what you want to accomplish.

Set an artificial project deadline. (Lie to yourself.)

Do you have several hours to write an article? Set a timer for 45 minutes. A sense of urgency may produce surprising results. Changing a task into a challenge forces you to spend more attention and energy on that project because you’ve limited the time.

In this way, we can block distractions ahead of time, work with intention, and reclaim our attention. It’s harder to chase squirrels and fall down rabbit holes with a short deadline, even if it is artificial.

Take timeouts.

 

Whether you can stay focused forever or work better in shorter bursts, it’s good to know what task/break rhythm works best for you and go with it. Even short breaks can help improve focus. Take the occasional mental break to recharge your attentional resources.

Try taking several deep breaths and focusing on each one. When your mind wanders, bring your focus back to your breath. This is how meditation works.

There is no magical time limit needed for meditating. A few minutes may be enough. I’ve built 20 minutes of meditation into my morning routine. When I miss a day, I can feel the difference.

After focusing for however many minutes works best for you, take a break. Do something enjoyable that requires getting up and away from the desk. These breaks are part of your work day and should not be skipped. Breaks help you be more productive.

Recognize how distractions have affected your life and ability to accomplish goals. If you find yourself sidetracked by unimportant details, it may be time to place greater value on your time.

Be present.

 

Be fully in the moment. Staying involved in the present sharpens your attention and keeps your mental resources focused on what matters at the time.

Try this exercise to practice being in the moment:

• Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and then open them and really “see” where you are.
• How do the walls look? Color, texture, curved, straight?
• What noises do you hear? Human, animal, mechanical, wind?
• What patterns do you see? Color, shape, size?
• How many windows are in the room? Not just number. Do they make a pattern? Are they decorated?
• What about the floor and ceiling? Tiles, wood, old, new, color, shape?
• How many lights can you count? Color, shapes, size?

When you stop to truly observe your environment and take in everything around you, it's easier to be in the present.

Final thoughts.

Try book-writing software.

Are you a pantser or a plotter? People who write by the seat of their pants (pantsers) may prefer a looser, more flexible way to organize chapters, scenes.

People who meticulously plan their book (plotters) might want something more structured. Book-writing software may assist with your unique writing style.

Book-writing software may to help writers stay organized and on task, which is a good thing.

Accomplishing anything worthwhile takes time. Limiting distractions will help get you to your goals.

How do you limit your distractions? Do you use any website blockers?

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About Ellen

Author, speaker, and former teacher, Ellen L. Buikema has written non-fiction for parents, and The Adventures of Charlie Chameleon chapter book series with stories encouraging the development of empathy—sprinkling humor wherever possible. Her Works in Progress are The Hobo Code, YA historical fiction and The Crystal Key, MG Magical Realism/ Sci-Fi, a glaze of time travel.

Find her at https://ellenbuikema.com or on Amazon.

Top Image by Andreas Hoja from Pixabay