SMS - Saggy Middle Syndrome

Feathers · Mar 16, 2008

Lostlore's thread about maintaining the fictional dream really got me thinking about sagging middles. Why do middles suck so much? I know for me, it's usually because a) I ran out of plot ideas b) I don't know how to write the plot ideas I have, or c) I'm so used to the characters and the plot that I just start writing on autopilot - it's like the magic is gone.

In Lostlore's thread, I suggested that she treat her lagging scenes like they were the first scenes of her book. My own advice wouldn't get out of my head. I've started writing like each scene is either the beginning of my book or a pivotal turning point, and it's amazing...it's so much edgier than before!

The only thing is, this special treatment makes for slow going. As a result my muse is pretty flighty...if I go more than two days without writing, it's like eh, I don't want to.

Has anyone else tried something like this? Does it work for the whole book? I'm wondering if there are any other cons to this process.

-Feathers

Ziljon · Mar 16, 2008

I find not thinking of the parts in derogatory terms helps. Thus, the saggy middle is, to me, the second or third movement (like in a symphony). Each movement may be in a different tempo, and may be more or less exciting than another, but they are all worthwhile and valid in and of themselves and as parts of the whole.

Try that!

IceCreamEmpress · Mar 16, 2008

Ziljon said:
I find not thinking of the parts in derogatory terms helps. Thus, the saggy middle is, to me, the second or third movement (like in a symphony). Each movement may be in a different tempo, and may be more or less exciting than another, but they are all worthwhile and valid in and of themselves and as parts of the whole.

I think there's a big difference between "slow" and "saggy" though. When you're writing a symphony, you certainly don't want any of the movements to be "saggy" no matter how slow they are.

I agree with the larger point that books don't need to be paced the same way all through, but I think when something feels "saggy" it's because you're responding to an actual problem in pacing.

Of course, that raises an interesting point--maybe the problem in pacing might be fixed by making things slower, rather than faster...

JeanneTGC · Mar 16, 2008

Maybe it's because I grew up reading mysteries, but I try to follow the mystery meter and flow in anything I write, so that there is always another "reveal" or "dead body" or "red herring/real clue" coming.

David I · Mar 16, 2008

I find that a lot of writers get fatigued in the middle of the book; some very accomlished writers compare it to 'the wall' in a long run, before you get your second wind.

Agent Donald Maass once pointed out that writers often cut down the tension on the grounds that the reader needs a little bit of a break. He says this almost always means that the writer wants a break, not the reader.

Similarly, your sense that something is sagging may be correct, or it may be that it just feels slow to you when you're slogging through. Unfortunately, you may not be the best judge of how well something is working while you're writing it.

The way I deal with troublesome middles (and I don;t always find them troublesome) is to split them into three parts, each with a mini-arc and climax that pushes you forward. In effect, you end up with five acts total (first, last, and three middles). This tends to make the long desert of the middle a shorter journey.

Mumut · Mar 16, 2008

I think it must be something to do with genre. Mills and Boon stories start saggy and don't change for the whole book (I actually read one 'cause my wife told me to. 'There's money writing like that' she said. There's money in treason, too.)

My short quiet spells are full of preparation for the next onslaught of action. It's not M&B but it also doesn't earn me a lot of money!

dragoon_elf · Mar 16, 2008

yeah.

I thought by dividing my book into two parts, I could avoid getting stuck while writing the middle of my novel.

Unfortunately, what I came to realize is that each part to my novel still its individual middle. haha

Thankfully, I'm nearing the tailend of part one so I'm riding a good wind finishing that. But I'll have to deal with another middle section soon enough.

Feathers · Mar 16, 2008

David I said:
The way I deal with troublesome middles (and I don;t always find them troublesome) is to split them into three parts, each with a mini-arc and climax that pushes you forward. In effect, you end up with five acts total (first, last, and three middles). This tends to make the long desert of the middle a shorter journey.

That's an interesting method. I never thought of doing it that way before. I can see how that would help, cutting it up into more acts that way.

I always get "lost" during my middles. I start second guessing myself or like I said before, I go on autopilot, and I always get the feeling like I have to go back and work it over because the story changed somehow. As a result of this wandering I get a saggy middle.

If I tried breaking it up into smaller pieces and concentrating on each of those acts, one at a time, that might help. I think it would take off some of the pressure...thats always nice.

-Feathers

lute · Mar 16, 2008

Feathers said:
That's an interesting method. I never thought of doing it that way before. I can see how that would help, cutting it up into more acts that way.

I always get "lost" during my middles. I start second guessing myself or like I said before, I go on autopilot, and I always get the feeling like I have to go back and work it over because the story changed somehow. As a result of this wandering I get a saggy middle.

If I tried breaking it up into smaller pieces and concentrating on each of those acts, one at a time, that might help. I think it would take off some of the pressure...thats always nice.

-Feathers

I know that feeling all too well, namely, getting lost in the middle or hitting autopilot. I think looking at it being split up but not as separate entities would be an effective way. In addition to it taking the pressure off, it just sounds refreshing in general. Starting new "sections" or "parts" might be easier for me to swallow. Good advice and great thread :Thumbs:

Sassee · Mar 17, 2008

When I reach the saggy middle... I start procrastinating. Jim Butcher actually wrote an article (was it on his blog?) about getting through the muddy swamp that's at the middle of your story. He suggested maybe adding a secondary character into the mix, maybe one with its own little story arc like David I suggested. I find I have to add *something*, whether it's a character or red herring or zomg dead body. Though, I write for myself - if *I'm* getting bored writing it, my readers are probably going to be bored, too. So I continuously try to think up ways to keep my A.D.D. self interested. It works sometimes. Takes a lot of false starts but I eventually get something good.

Feathers · Mar 17, 2008

Starting new "sections" or "parts" might be easier for me to swallow.

Exactly. I think sometimes I take off too much to chew. Even though I manage to swallow it, my esophogus (sp?) ends up being clogged for everything else that comes along.

I find I have to add *something*, whether it's a character or red herring or zomg dead body. Though, I write for myself - if *I'm* getting bored writing it, my readers are probably going to be bored, too.

I used to do that, but the moment I put something in I felt the need to weave it into what i'd already written, and by the time I worked my way back to the middle I was more messed up than I'd been before.

But I do feel the need to entertain myself. If I start getting bored...bad sign.

-Feathers

Diane · Mar 17, 2008

One way of thinking of it is that the middle is the movie that everyone came to see.

The middle is where the detective discovers there's a bigger conspiracy, where Indy finds out there's an Ark (and goes after it), where the H/H have met and are trying to work out their relationship.

Raphee · Mar 18, 2008

If the middle is saggy, shouldnt the book be shorter.
I mean we can out the the saggy part.

ishtar'sgate · Mar 18, 2008

Feathers said:
In Lostlore's thread, I suggested that she treat her lagging scenes like they were the first scenes of her book. My own advice wouldn't get out of my head. I've started writing like each scene is either the beginning of my book or a pivotal turning point, and it's amazing...it's so much edgier than before!
Has anyone else tried something like this? Does it work for the whole book? I'm wondering if there are any other cons to this process.

-Feathers

I HAVE to write this way all the time. I end my day's work with a kind of mini cliffhanger or unresolved issue - with a sense that I'm not done yet and there's more to write. If I don't feel like I need to get to the next scene and write it then I can't expect the reader to want to keep turning the pages to find out what happens.
Linnea

Wolvel · Mar 18, 2008

I don't have a probelm with sms due to the fact i have my middle climax already in either my head or notes so I have a goal to shoot for while writing.

That being said, it doesn't always work that way for everyone. Personally i have multiple projects going at once so if I hit a lag or a block I just switch gears until I'm ready for the one I had trouble with.

Feathers · Mar 18, 2008

Raphee said:
If the middle is saggy, shouldnt the book be shorter.
I mean we can out the the saggy part.

I wish . . . the middle is vital, because it gets you from the beginning to the ending. Stuff has to happen. The problem is writing it in a way that's interesting.

SMS - Saggy Middle Syndrome

Feathers

emerging from the writing cave

Ziljon

Tortilla di Patate

IceCreamEmpress

Hapless Virago

JeanneTGC

I am Catwoman...and Gini Koch

David I

Mumut

Well begun is half done...

dragoon_elf

Feathers

emerging from the writing cave

lute

Sassee

Momma Wolf

Feathers

emerging from the writing cave

Diane

Raphee

In debt to AW

ishtar'sgate

living in the past

Wolvel

Write the Damn Book!

Feathers

emerging from the writing cave

SMS - Saggy Middle Syndrome

emerging from the writing cave

Tortilla di Patate

Hapless Virago

I *am* Catwoman...and Gini Koch

Well begun is half done...

emerging from the writing cave

lute

Momma Wolf

emerging from the writing cave

In debt to AW

living in the past

Write the Damn Book!

emerging from the writing cave

I am Catwoman...and Gini Koch