The Saggy Middle Diet

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Did that title get your attention? If you’re trying to shed a few pounds like I am, it might have J For the past two weeks I’ve been carefully following an eating plan in the hopes of detoxing my carb-loving, sugar-adoring, fat-storing body. I enjoy eating…for the simple joy of eating, and after a few years, and a few kids, it’s taking its eternal toil on me, so I’m trying to reduce my saggy middle.

It’s hard work, filled with strategic planning and purposeful eating.

Progress is SLLLLOOOOWWWW, but I hope the reward at the end will be worth the slogging.

Get where I’m headed?

One of the dreaded parts of novel writing or reading is getting to a saggy middle of the story. Sometimes it can seem sluggish and slow, other times it can feel really drawn, and there are even times when it might have lots of action…but its only action for action’s sake – it doesn’t move the story forward.

I’m writing the middle of my WIP right now and I’m trying to brainstorm ways to make the middle as powerful as the beginning and end.

Finding that ‘finely toned’ middle can be a lot of hard work, filled with strategic planning and purposeful writing.

I’ve tried to think of 5 ways to help support toning up the flabby middle of your novel.

1.       Spice Things Up – adding action or emotional intensity is a great way to spice up the center of the story. Mary Connealy once mentioned something about ‘when things get slow, bring in a man with a gun.’ J For her and Amy Leigh Simpson’s books, that would work….not so much for other types. The point is, if you can keep the intensity high (as you hope to do within each chapter), it will help keep the pacing of the story moving. 

This is usually helpful when you have some subplots going on.

It’s also a great place to reinforce your character arc by bringing in some good scenes to support or challenge the direction you want your character to go.

 

I’ve added a subplot which has really intensified the middle but also undergirds my heroine’s bigger story question.

 2.       Make Your Moments Count – but within the ‘spice’ your scenes need to be purposeful, helping spurn the story forward. A meaningless middle, even if action-packed, can still feel just as empty as the saggy middle. Every chapter, beginning, middle, or end, should help lead to the ultimate goal of your novel. Don’t just throw a smoking gun into the mix unless it’s going to help move your main story forward, either through character self-awareness or other-awareness.

 Just like on a diet, you’re keeping that bigger goal in mind as you make little decisions.

 3.       If You Get Off Track, Jump Back On  - High pressure is a notorious killer of creativity. Believe me, right now I totally get it! Having the pressure to get words on the page can instigate a whole host of insecurities and worries that can really kick in the writer’s block. An important thing to remember, is if you get stuck (or eat that delicious banana pudding on the 4^th), you can keep writing. So what if you have to delete the scene? Writing spurs on more writing. Other options might be taking a walk, watching a movie that will inspire your story creating, brainstorming with friends, or listening to beautiful music.

 I’ve been watching episodes of Downton Abbey, biographies about World War 1, and some other era-based movies to help when I’m stuck.

 4.       Keep Your Goal in Mind – You started this book with a purpose. As we discover our characters and story writing, we hope that initial purpose becomes clearer and clearer. As you enter the middle of your book, remember why you were drawn to this story-seed. What about the characters captured your heart to lead you into story-creating? Keeping the goal in mind will help you tone up the middle.

 

What about you? What are some tools you use to tighten your saggy story middle? What are some books you’ve read where you’ve enjoyed the story all the way to the end…even in the middle?

 

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Pepper Basham is an award-winning author who writes romance peppered with grace and humor. She’s a native of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a mom of five, a speech-language pathologist, and a lover of chocolate. She enjoys sprinkling her native Appalachian culture into her fiction whenever she can. She currently resides in the lovely mountains of Asheville, NC where she works with kids with special needs, searches for unique hats, and plots new ways to annoy her wonderful friends at her writing blog, The Writer’s Alley. She is represented by Julie Gwinn and her debut novel, The Thorn Bearer, released in April 2015. You can connect with Pepper on her website at www.pepperdbasham.com, Facebook-  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pepper-D-Basham or Twitter at https://twitter.com/pepperbasham

 

 

Before You Type "Chapter One"

Hi, everyone! I hope you're having a great week. The weather here in Florida has been quite lovely lately. But if you live north, try not to be too jealous because in the peak of summer, it'll be plenty hot enough here to make you glad you live where you do!

I'm starting a new story which I'm very excited about, and I've realized it's amazing how quickly I go from elation to writer's block when I'm working on a new book. Know the feeling? To a certain extent, it's probably inevitable. But there are definitely things we can do to flesh out our scenes as we're writing, instead of going through seventeen drafts before we get to one that seems halfway decent. So today, I thought I would write about several things I've found helpful to know before you type "Chapter One."

I should start by saying I used to be a total pantster, because I was taught in college that too much plotting hinders an organic development of story plot. And while on some levels that may be true, over the years I have realized the importance of being able to plot, even on the most basic level, before a book is written. And my stories are so much stronger for it. Took me several painful proposal synopses to get to that realization, but I eventually did.

So even if you tend to prefer writing as story elements come to your mind (perhaps especially if that's you), I hope you find this list helpful to consider before diving in.

What to consider before typing "Chapter One":

Photo by  gt_pann.  from freedigitalphotos.net

• The character's main struggle. If you think about it, on some level, the character's main struggle drives nearly every element of the book. From page one, you need to know what he or she is dealing with on a big picture level, because that will influence every choice you make as a writer as you force that character into uncomfortable situations. It's amazing how targeted you can even make your descriptors if you know what fear/guilt/heaviness your character carries. We tend to notice the world according to our preoccupations, and the same is true for our characters.
• The character's main goal. In like fashion, you should be aware what your character wants, even if it's only a vague idea at this point. If you don't know what's driving your character forward, you probably don't really have a book-length story-- at least not a good one. I've written drafts before without a clear character goal, and let's just say they did not turn out so great. If you can, try to tie your character's main goal to your character's main struggle (i.e. all she wants is to graduate from college but she has to face her greatest fear--a math class-- in order to achieve it). If we see the goal and the struggle/fear combine, and the character overcomes that struggle, the end result will be all the sweeter.
• If you're writing romance, know your central conflict. You need simultaneously something driving the characters together and apart. Think about You've Got Mail. They are pulled together by their online romance, but that in and of itself would make a boring movie. You need the conflict--the fact he is running her out of business and she hates and loves him at the same time-- to make the magic work. In a similar fashion, find a way to get your heroine and hero physically in the same space, and be sure they have a solid reason to love and hate each other.
• The story question/take-away. Okay, so let's be honest-- you probably won't fully know what your story question or the main take-away of the book is until you finish writing. That's okay. You can go back once you're done with the first draft and look for patterns of how that theme showed up in your writing unintentionally (which is one of my favorite things to find in a story!). But you should have a general idea of the take-away value based on the characters' struggles. For example, if you've read Kristy Cambron's stunning debut The Butterfly and The Violin, you saw her story brings up the question, "Where is God--and beauty--in the midst of suffering?" Her book presents a challenging response to this question, one of the best responses I've seen in fiction or non. The more development you can do on your story question before you begin writing, the easier you will make things for yourself as you go through the first draft. You'll find character development as well as layering much easier to accomplish, as each scene will become purposeful and focused with the theme in mind.

And that's it! Do you have any other elements you like to work through before you begin writing? Do you find you're more of a pantster or a plotter?

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Ashley Clark writes romance with southern grace. She's dreamed of being a writer ever since the thumbprint-cookie-days of library story hour. Ashley has an M.A. in English and enjoys teaching literature courses at her local university. She's an active member of ACFW and runs their newcomer's loop. When she's not writing, Ashley's usually busy rescuing stray animals and finding charming new towns. You can find Ashley on her personal blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. She is represented by Karen Solem.