Mid-story - The Middle Game

[Mistook]

Anatole Ghio suggested this as a thread and I'm seconding the motion. We hear tell of the horrors of mid-book - that boundless sea of mystery where all perspective is lost.

What are your survival strategies?

What are your horror stories?

My early chapters are diamonds in the rough. I know that with a bit of spit and polish, they will gleam (except for chapter 1, but that's another issue). I can also see the closing chapters. They may not turn out exactly as planned, but they call to me, like lights on the horizon.

How to get from one to the other? Aye... there's the b*tch of it!

[loquax]

The Mid-Book is where I start to tie up loose ends. The problem is that once you've reached halfway, it becomes impractical to introduce new characters or ideas in order to do this. You have to feed off the wild randomness of the first half; make a nice ending with what you have.
I sit down with a piece of paper and write "loose ends" at the top. Then I go through them all, and try and piece them together in the order that I want (e.g. I want the MC to discover A before B, and I want the reader to discover D for themselves, and reveal it to the MC after C)

All I can say is it messes with my brain.

[azbikergirl]

Nancy Kress says in her book (Beginnings, Middles and Ends) that the middle starts with the second scene. I guess the reason I don't have much trouble with middles is that by the time I've gotten to the second scene, I've gotten the hardest part done!

Then again, I'm a planner. I outline until I know basically how to get from point A to point G, and the major points in between. Point G may or may not be the end, but if my MC wants something, I make it really hard for him to get (or I give, then take it away). If the antagonist wants something, I nudge it closer. ;)

I see the middle as more or less building an obstacle course. To me, it's the fun part. If my middle sags, I put in more obstacles.

When my dog was doing agility courses, she would start looking for the next obstacle on the course before she was done with the one she was on. The more obstacles, the harder she had to work and the more fun she had.

[brinkett]

I'm a strong believer in BIC. I'd sometimes rather have my fingernails ripped off than slog through some scenes, but I've discovered that I also do some of my best writing during those times. And it's usually in the middle of the story that the characters give you the finger and do something you weren't expecting, which I always love.

Oh, and having beta readers asking you to hurry up so they can read the next chapter is a great motivator as well.

[Trapped in amber]

Midway through, I start to panic. I know with absolute certainty there is no way I can finish, my imagination dries up, and creativity is a fond memory.

In blind terror I keep going.

Somehow things get written.

For me, the solution is just to keep at it.

[Dhewco]

Heh, I don't plan anything but the end. I know generally how I want my main character to end up. Therefore I do experience bits of terror toward the middle. I am at 58k (wp count) of an around 90-95k wip, and I'm hitting a stride as I go toward the last 8 chapters of the book. BTW, my estimates are just that, estimates. I'll end the book where it ends. But I can feel an end coming, so I'm pretty confident of my numbers.

If I can get past chapter ten, in any project, I tend to finish. It also helps that I don't work on multiple projects. I focus on one.

David

[Jamesaritchie]

I think I agree with Nancy Kress on this, at least in part. For me, if the first chapter is written well enough, has all the elements it needs, the rest of the novel is usually pretty easy. If the first chapter has problems, the rest of the book can be a nightmare.

Because of this, it's the first chapter that eats my time. For me, the first chapter can take almost as long to write as the entire rest of the novel.

When Middlebook is giving me serious problems, I know my problem is really back in chapter one.

[katiemac]

When it comes to middle book, I use the BIC method too. Heck, I use that for the beginning and the end.

Usually what happens is that I have scene in mind when I sit down to write. I'll let it pan out while I'm writing, then, when I'm really starting to get into the drive of the scene and I've completed my daily word count, I stop. I do this because I know exactly where to start off the next day ready to go without a block.