• Read this: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?288931-Guidelines-for-Participation-in-Outwitting-Writer-s-Block

    before you post.

How do you get past the middle?

Status
Not open for further replies.

JustSarah

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 6, 2012
Messages
1,980
Reaction score
35
Website
about.me
I know that I can outline a clear end for my story, and I can also write a clear beginning of the story.

I remember when I tried writing my time travel story, I could only write long enough to get the character to the next pinch, but because I did not have any knowledge about viking warfare, I was stuck in sort of a stand still around the first chapter, because I could not decide which plot element made sense, or whether to go in a completely different direction.

I know the old adage is just write, but its not that simple if you have an editor breathing down your neck ever step of the way, telling you got your military facts wrong.
 

Kerosene

Your Pixie Queen
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 29, 2012
Messages
5,762
Reaction score
1,045
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
If you're having a problem with being factual, don't write books with real world facts. Or make them up.

How to get through the middle? Plotting. that's what I do. Once I've gotten through the opening and have my ending in sight, I setup a series of steps that I will take towards the end.
What do my characters need to do, to get to their goal?
How? Why? What might complicate that?
 

Calliea

Hush, hush...
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 6, 2012
Messages
524
Reaction score
53
Location
Faraway
I found that sometimes the best thing for me was to come up with a scene that I liked. At first it seemed neither here nor there, but it conveyed some emotions, some development and was simply interesting in itself. Then things started to build around it and I found ways to logically connect it to the beginning and influence the end. On the way it created more opportunities to fill the gaps. Sure it won't always work, but it's one more thing you could try, no? :)
 

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,429
Reaction score
25,447
Location
Snow Cave
One work-around I've found which lets me continue to write when I do not have the facts is to write a hundred words or so about what must happen in the chapter which needs research and how it needs to end. No detail, just Big Picture.

So for the Viking warfare I know nothing about, I might write that Thorengud arrives with his men at Placename, where they join forces with others, that there's a big battle in which Sigrund is fatally wounded with UniqueWeapon and dies in Thorengud's arms. Seeing the battle is lost and the host overpowering, and hoping to save the lives of those men he brought, Thorengud then deserts, running into the forest and directing his men to do the same, which leaves him free to do WhatComesNext.

This way you can continue with whatever you plan, and still know what you need to write when you return to the chapter.

Maryn, feeling bad for Thorengud
 

Rhoda Nightingale

Vampire Junkie
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 25, 2009
Messages
4,470
Reaction score
658
^Not my thread, but that's exactly what I needed. THANK YOU!
 

OhTheHorror

jlw
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 18, 2010
Messages
232
Reaction score
16
Location
The Land Downunder
Plotting. that's what I do.

One work-around I've found which lets me continue to write when I do not have the facts is to write a hundred words or so about what must happen in the chapter which needs research and how it needs to end. No detail, just Big Picture.

I do both of these. ^^

I outline. Nothing too over the top. I use a modified version of the Snowflake Method. If I get stuck, instead of harshing my grove, (I've wanted to say that all day. :D) I write big picture notes within the MS, highlighting them so I remember they are there, and I can come back later to add the detail.

Hope that helps! :)
 
Last edited:

hendrik

Registered
Joined
Dec 4, 2012
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Hi Sarah,

If you are worried about "facts" - why not set your story in a parallel universe? Or since you do time travel; an alternate timeline?

Most "facts" about Vikings are made from folklore and objects dug up, so if you have a bit more than common knowledge - you can make very good "educated guesses" on Viking facts anyway.
 

shadowwalker

empty-nester!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 8, 2010
Messages
5,601
Reaction score
598
Location
SE Minnesota
When I come to a spot where I don't know about some aspect of it, I go do the research and then come back and write. It's the research that determines what I can or can't do next. Not sure how lack of knowledge/research relates to getting "past the middle", however.
 

Sonsofthepharaohs

Still writing the ancient Egyptian tetralogy
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 17, 2010
Messages
5,260
Reaction score
2,673
Location
UK
When you hit a stodgy spot in the middle, I think there are only two ways to plough your way through it:

1) Research
2) Outline

The two things stopping you are probably:

1) Motivation
2) Not knowing where you're going

As you can see, these kinda pair up. Lack of doing research is usually a motivation problem, and means you're not really excited by your story. You need to find the thing that excited you about it.

Not knowing where you're going is probably a lack of outline. You need to step back and figure out the overall story arc so you can move forward in the right direction.

Choose your demon and go slay it accordingly.

Oh, and then can you come round and slay mine? That would be teh awsums.

kthxbai
 

Fanatic_Dreamer

Daydreaming Extraordinaire
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 31, 2012
Messages
167
Reaction score
15
Location
New Jersey
Honestly the middle six chapters were the hardest for me to write. So I wrote the beginning and the end first. The last chapter was the first I actually wrote. My advice is to write the ending and set the goal you want the book to end with, and expand from there.
 

Hamilton

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 10, 2012
Messages
243
Reaction score
45
Location
NJ
Middle-confusion is why I have a vendetta against the three act structure. Talk about oversimplifying.

Even the title of this thread is "How do you get past the middle?", as if most of the actual story is just some awkward hurdle to climb to reach to the end point, when in actuality it's where the reader is going to spend most of their time. (No offense meant of course. Just goes to show how little attention is often given on how to actually handle middles and how confused people end up.)

But I guess you don't want to hear my mindless ranting, eh?

If you're having trouble with the middle, try breaking it up by major turning points. . Instead of just leaping from the beginning to the end, and falling into the gaping hole in the middle, give yourself some stepping stones. Think of, say, three major dramatic events.


Beginning -----X-----X-----X-----End

As for what these major turning points might be, consider what absolutely needs to happen for you to reach your intended ending. What are major hurdles that need to be overcome, tasks that must be accomplished? What could go horribly wrong? Use these points as guides so you're not flailing around in the dark to the end.

In between these turning points, you should be:
A) Dealing with the consequences of the previous turning point.
B) Building up to the next turning point.

Don't have much advice when it comes to the research. The way I see it, you do some combination of making up stuff as you write and going to research later, and/or anticipating what you need to know and researching before writing.
 

J.S.F.

Red fish, blue fish...
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 4, 2012
Messages
5,365
Reaction score
793
Location
Osaka
If you're writing something factual, then yes, do the research, and try to fit it in amongst the prose.

OTOH, if you're writing fiction/fantasy/whatever, then let your characters guide you. I have the same problem. I can write great beginnings and solid endings, but the middle part, the 'filler', has always been a problem and I don't want to pad the work or do information dumps.

So, I let what my characters have done up to the middle part/two-thirds part guide me. If they've gotten to 'X' then I think, "what would they do next to get to 'Y', and take it from there. Granted, the path they take may not necessarily fit, but you can always backtrack and fix it. The big thing for me is to let the characters continually evolve. If they're already 'alive' by the middle part, then there's no reason you can't keep their lives going.
 

Coeus

Registered
Joined
Feb 4, 2013
Messages
34
Reaction score
6
Location
Canada
If you usually write with your outline handy, then outline the middle. I tend to outline the beginning or end of a story without being too definitive about the middle and inevitably I get hung up there until I pound it out in my outline.

As others have said; don't worry about the facts until you're editing. Use placeholders. Stopping to look up facts only disrupts the writing process, and can end to a flurry of other activities that only serve as procrastination.

When you're done writing for the day, try leaving off in a place where you know exactly what's going to happen next. If you finish a scene/chapter/section/whatever and you don't know what's next, it's going to be much harder to sit down and write tomorrow.
 

Krystal Heart

Sockpuppet
Banned
Joined
Feb 24, 2013
Messages
238
Reaction score
13
Location
Florida
I slap my characters with a situation that's almost impossible to deal with when I find I can't continue, and that happened to me yesterday when I'd just hit 22,000 words. I'm at 27,000 words now. What I did was to have the villain of this specific novel (not the whole story) hire a couple of thugs to beat up my MC. Then I have one of my most important female characters be accused of cheating on my MC's brother, her fiance, with her own brother in law. She's just being accused, she didn't do it, but that gives it enough of a hardship for my characters to continue. Now my MC's little sister is dealing with a boyfriend that's trying to control her. Oy, that will give me plenty to get to my intended 110,000 words in this first draft. Phew.
 

Acarophobia

Registered
Joined
Mar 4, 2013
Messages
11
Reaction score
0
Location
where ever I want
I'm not really sure if I'm the best one to give advice on this, but I know that sometimes I like to write out several different scenes and start trying to piece and mend them together. sometimes I'll write the same scenes at least two different times and start working with each to see which one I like more. It really doesn't help progress much at first, but once you write enough of several little things, you're able to piece them to make a much bigger thing!
 

cmtruesd

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 23, 2012
Messages
378
Reaction score
25
Location
North Carolina, United States
Very detailed plotting helps me through the middle. I do an elaborate beat sheet-- list of scenes with descriptions of what happens in each scene. Every day I look at the sheet, and I not only look at the scene I'm writing but the scene I have to write next. It keeps me focused on where I am and where I'm going.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.