I'm there. 44,523 words. I wanted to be farther by now, finishing my first draft by the end of August. Maybe I can bust out 2500 words a day but that's another post for another day.
What I am dealing with now is trudging through the middle without boring the reader.
I have a couple of helpful...um...I guess you can call them helps, and today I wanted to share them with you!
I also want to ask what do you do about the middle of the middle to keep it interesting? If you have helpful places you go please do share!
Here are mine...
- The Plot Whisperer - I've told you about her before HERE. This woman is terrific! I can't say enough good things about her as she has helped me immensely through her You Tube Plotting Series (this link will take you to the episode on plotting the middle). You have to check her out. And just a teaser for later down the line...she will be visiting my blog in the future! YAY:)
- Novel Writing Help - Harvey Chapman is pretty darn cool with his web site for novel writing. It is simple and to the point as he breaks the plotting up into three acts and act two is the middle. Check it out.
Until Next time...
Keep writing. Keep learning
The middle can be quite hard work. I'd say for a first draft it's good to focus on getting through it quickly. Things will change greatly in rewrites so there's no need to really sweat it now. Not that you shouldn't think up some cool stuff, but don't get bogged down in trying to create the perfect scenes, accept a little dissatisfaction at this stage.
ReplyDeletemood
Moody Writing
@mooderino
Thanks for the links--I'll be sure to check them out. I need all the help I can get as I am jumping back into the middle of my book. Good luck with your deadline.
ReplyDeleteCheers.
Mood- You are so right! I need to get through it and then go back and do the tweeking. That is my plan but I find myself getting caught up in the details right away when I don't want to. It's good to know others just get the 1st draft down and go from there.
ReplyDeleteVinobaby- Good luck on your middle! These links really have helped me...and with more than just the middle.
Oh good luck! I just read Save the Cat and it really helped me fix my whole story, but mainly by identifying exactly what had to happen in the middle. I highly recommend it!!
ReplyDeleteOoo, thanks for the book recommendation Pk!
ReplyDeleteThis is probably similar to PK's recommendation, but StoryFix.com really changed the way I look at story structure. Larry Brooks gives milestone events at the 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 5/8 and 3/4 marks.
ReplyDeleteYou can read his blog series about story structure here:
http://storyfix.com/category/story-structure-series/page/3 (the first two posts) and
http://storyfix.com/category/story-structure-series/page/2 (the next 8 posts).
He also does a lot of structure analyses of popular books and movies. This has really helped me in the sagging middle!
I love the Plot Whisperer! I bought her book, and it really helped work out some of my manuscript issues. I hadn't heard of Chapman, but I'll check him out. Thanks! (and congrats on getting to the middle!)
ReplyDelete~Debbie
I love the middle of the book! The beginning is the building block and the end is bittersweet, but the middle is where you're free to do whatever you want! It's sweet, sweet freedom, so long as you built your story in the "write" way.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with you goals, Deana!
BTW, did you get my last email?
I feel better for having read E.R. King's comment, for I also enjoyed writing the middle of my book. The beginning is so crucial to nail and the end is, well, the end; I hated to say goodbye to my characters. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm just past the middle of my WIP too... and my goal was to finish the first draft by the end of August. EEEK! Maybe mid-September is more feasible now??
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky with my story arc because there are a few surprises I've worked in around the middle. It's where things start getting exciting.
The only thing helpful I've done with this novel is write an extensive outline--numbered bullets per chapter with bits of dialogue thrown in. Through writing the outline, parts of the story developed in ways I didn't see coming before, which has thankfully helped spice things along. I'm doing surprisingly well sticking to the outline too. Maybe that will help me pump out the last 25k by the end of August????? ;)
Jordan - That link sounds great! I really like it when things are broken down like that for me:)
ReplyDeleteDebbie- I think your blog is how I found her actually...THANKS!
Emily and Michelle- I do enjoy that freedom in the middle, but I think it scares me too:)
Kristin- YES you can do it! I'll send postive vibes your way! You sound like me with the same goals and where we are in our writing. If you can pull it off you will give me hope that I can!
Ha! We're on the same page.
ReplyDeleteI'm writing the middle, too, after a lot of struggling and rewrites. In the end, I realized I needed to do some MAJOR changes in the ms and now, finally, I think it's working! :D
Good luck with your ms now! <3
Funny you should mention the middle. My post that'll go up tomorrow basically shares that the middle is where I begin to work my way toward the end. (It's also where I begin to know how the end will unfold.) I'm curious re the middle of the middle quandary. I will have to check out these links you've provided! Good luck with the next bunches of pages, and above all, enjoy the process!!!
ReplyDeleteMonica- YAY for it working now. Isn't that a good feeling?:)
ReplyDeleteKatie- I just checked out your post. I love it!