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The 50,000 Word Mid-point . . . then nothing!

gothicangel

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Hi. So my current WIP is a Crime (thrillerish) novel. I've recently written a brilliant mid-point twist in the plot (currently at 50,000 words) and then nothing . . . my characters literally don't know what to do next. I have outlined my story so I have to get my characters to point B for the next big reveal say in 10,000 words, and have two big plot points planned, but just need to get my characters moving again.

Help? :cry:
 

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So you say your characters don't know what to do next, what exactly do you mean by that?

Your characters discovered something new, okay. But they still have info/evidence that they gathered earlier, does that change what they already know? Does it challenge their assumptions? There was an episode of SVU where they found blood of several different females at a crime scene, and they knew that at least one of them was assaulted (since she came to report it) so they go to find the others. There's one they can't figure out who it belongs to. No one wants to testify since this was among fellow soldiers and they're afraid of the repercussions. They hit a roadblock and can't continue in the case. The big reveal/twist of the episode is that one of the men who was there is ftm transgender. This new bit of info changes what they thought they knew about the prior evidence, and now they have a new avenue to move forward with the case. What about this twist changes what your characters know? What assumptions have been put into question?

Less plot-y advice: skip ahead a scene (or two or three) to a point you do know whats going on and whats happening. You can backfill that stuff later. You could also write something like [And so they did some things and then got the plot coupon and now they're going to the place]. Just the most bare-bones thing, like a narrator in a movie telling you what happened off screen. But it gets the ball moving again and can always be fixed in editing.
 

CathleenT

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This is tough because it's so individual. When I'm working from an outline and run into a blank, that usually means there's something missing. Last time I needed something humorous. I ended up adding a several scenes that weren't anywhere in my outline, but they needed to be there.

What are you missing, maybe? Do you have a character who could use further developing before the next crisis? Is it time to add in a little comic relief?

Maybe your mind is trying to tell you that you need something before the next plot point.
 
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Hi. So my current WIP is a Crime (thrillerish) novel. I've recently written a brilliant mid-point twist in the plot (currently at 50,000 words) and then nothing . . . my characters literally don't know what to do next. I have outlined my story so I have to get my characters to point B for the next big reveal say in 10,000 words, and have two big plot points planned, but just need to get my characters moving again.

Help? :cry:

I think, for me, they need to want a thing that they work toward, and you use that thing (that momentum they bring with working toward something) to get them to the place you need them to be.

Let's say your big midpoint twist is that the person the hero thought was the villain turns out to be his secret benefactor. Trippy, yeah?

So now he knows. And the readers are swooning. And now, you need him, and his benefactor, to head to the castle (because you know the actual bad guy is there, and they'll figure it out once they arrive.)

But ... problem is, they have no reason to go to the castle.

You need to give them a reason. Back weave in some other thing that the protagonist wants to do, which will get him to the castle.

Maybe: The hero found a lost talisman in act I, and if he delivers it to the queen, she'll reward him. Or he saw the princess at the beginning of act II and she told him to come to the castle at the next full moon, at which point she could enchant his armor for him.

Or something. Give him some other thing related to his story goal that gets him to the place where the next plot point happens.

If there's a problem in the story, the actual problem is earlier in the story.

That's how I look at these things, but it is frustrating, yeah? When the characters are just standing there waiting for directions.
 
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Cephus

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The marathon in the middle is the hardest part of the book for a lot of people. You can't let your characters tell you what to do, you have to direct them. If they need to get from point A to point B, it's not up to them, it's up to you. Look at plot structure and figure out what you're missing.
 

gothicangel

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Thanks for all the wonderful advice. I've decided to take the next 10 chapters as a block (which will take me to 70,000 words and the next twist), and work backwards. My imagination is already loosening up. :hooray:
 

gothicangel

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The marathon in the middle is the hardest part of the book for a lot of people. You can't let your characters tell you what to do, you have to direct them. If they need to get from point A to point B, it's not up to them, it's up to you. Look at plot structure and figure out what you're missing.

I've never worked like that. This is the first time I've outlined and using Beat Sheets (which help a lot), but I would never write in a way like X will happen. I let my imagination run free and tell me what will happen next. Any other way would feel forced.
 

Cephus

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I've never worked like that. This is the first time I've outlined and using Beat Sheets (which help a lot), but I would never write in a way like X will happen. I let my imagination run free and tell me what will happen next. Any other way would feel forced.

The only thing that matters is getting it done. While it is possible to do that and a few authors make it work, the overwhelming majority of people who are pure pantsters are the same ones having the exact same problems you're having.
 

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Things I have tried that have worked:
* Write something else. Something completely throwaway that you don't intend to let another human being see. Shameless fan-fiction, unrepentant erotica, silly fantasy, insipid slice of life, giddy romance, it doesn't matter. Do it for 1-3,000 words and see if it knocks something lose.

* Write out a planning meeting for the characters, completely meta, try to stick to their voices. In this meeting they know they are characters in the novel, and they are trying to figure out how to move it forward.

* Go back to the source. Find the thing that originally inspired your novel and wallow in it. If it's media, read/listen to / watch it again. And again. If it's something else, recapture that memory, feeling, experience, etc.


Things I've heard suggested that did not work for me:
* Write badly - I.e. write anyway, knowing it's going to be something you won't use but hopefully you get inspired by rejecting it to go a better direction.

* Review plotting etc: I'm too much of a discovery writer to do this.
 

Ari Meermans

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The only thing that matters is getting it done. While it is possible to do that and a few authors make it work, the overwhelming majority of people who are pure pantsters are the same ones having the exact same problems you're having.

Cephus, twice now you've made emphatic statements in this thread regarding the writing process. You may have found those statements to be true wrt your writing process, but they aren't universally true for every writer or for every story. Let's not do that, okay?
 
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JohnLine

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I'm currently writing a novel that I've structured into two parts (they could each work as a novella). Where the first is the setup for the second. This also split "the marathon in the middle" into two smaller parts.

I took a page (metaphorically) from Brandon Sanderson's book and stuck a few interlude chapters between the parts, switching the POV to secondary characters to take a break in the action and give the mains time to do stuff away from the reader. Then I broke the main characters into new groups, so they'd have other personalities to play off of, which helps keep the dialog fresh.
 

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The only thing that matters is getting it done. While it is possible to do that and a few authors make it work, the overwhelming majority of people who are pure pantsters are the same ones having the exact same problems you're having.

Speaking as someone who has spent considerable time looking at the papers of people who are canon novelists—this is categorically false.

I don't know which of any number of methods works for more writers more of the time but I do know these things which are matters of fact and literary history:

* There are many kinds of processes for many kinds of books and writers.
* A book may require a different process than one you've used in the past.
* What works for one book or one writer may not work for another. That's OK. It's a big universe.

What I have observed from examining the papers of numerous writers is that writing is recursive; even writers who think they start at the beginning and writer t the end do at some point back track and revise, maybe not on every book, but it's exceedingly common.

What works for you and your book is what works.

Try something different if what you're doing isn't working. "Something different" may mean something like writing in a different place, using different tools (paper and pen or pencil maybe), or just giving yourself a break.
 
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gothicangel

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The only thing that matters is getting it done. While it is possible to do that and a few authors make it work, the overwhelming majority of people who are pure pantsters are the same ones having the exact same problems you're having.

I love it when people make comments like this. Just like the Head Master at my high school who said I had 'hit the glass ceiling' at 16, well, here I am 2/3s of my way through my second degree. This is my 4th novel, I know how to write and complete a book.
 

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Hi. So my current WIP is a Crime (thrillerish) novel. I've recently written a brilliant mid-point twist in the plot (currently at 50,000 words) and then nothing . . . my characters literally don't know what to do next. I have outlined my story so I have to get my characters to point B for the next big reveal say in 10,000 words, and have two big plot points planned, but just need to get my characters moving again.

Help? :cry:
Would you be able to work backwards? If you know how the novel will end maybe working from that point with help you with where you are stuck.