The Trendsetter

For those who are currently writing their manuscript — especially a novel, you know what I’m talking about. Yes, what to write in the middle of the novel. The first several chapters are easy to write and you know roughly about the ending or even have several options for it. Yet, you’re stuck in the middle.

For the first time writer, the novel usually has a beginning, middle and ending. So I’m talking about the middle section.

I know. I’m supposed to know everything about writing a novel. After all, I’ve been there and done that. Yet, I still get stuck in the middle. Well, in my previous life, I wrote young adult novels of less than 50,000 words. Around here it is considered just a novella. Writing a short manuscript is easy for me. I just concentrate on the main plot. And now I’m writing 100,000 words as I bragged in my previous post in this blog.

I planned to write 20 chapters (but actually wrote more), so the structure of my novel is somewhat like this:

Chapter 1-5 beginning; chapter 6-14 is the middle; chapter 15-20 ending.

I tell you, it’s so darn hard. I almost gave up. Every time I sat down in front of the keyboard with the curser blinking, waiting in front of me, new ideas came like candies, luring me into writing them and abandoning my current project.

But pretending to be a savvy writer and with so much agony, I summoned my courage to stick to this project. I eventually managed to push my writing to the end of the chapter. Yippee! Well, it is just a first draft. I finally wrote the novel that bugged the hell out of me. What a relief! My next task is to revise.

Arrgghh! What am I doing here?

So you see, saying that you want to be a writer is easy. Doing what a writer does is the hardest part.

So if you have similar problem as I encountered before — what to do in the middle, here are several tips on how I solved the middle blockage:

1. Get mad at your minor characters. I yelled at them, “Get a life, will you!” Do they have a life outside of the main plot? This will help you to create another subplot. In my story, I paid too much attention to my main characters that I neglected the minor characters. And they ended-up as cardboard characters. In my planning stage — with all the outlining and stuff, I knew I needed to do something with my minor characters, yet, when I started to write it down, all the planning went down the drain. So yeah, keep an eye on your minor characters. The middle section is the perfect place for them to take the center stage. But don’t over do it or your subplot will take over your main plot.

2. Weave your subplot into the main plot. Everything you write in your subplot including your minor characters or villain has its main function: to delay or stop your main characters from reaching his or her goal. This is the key for writing your middle chapters. Both your main and secondary or minor characters have their own secret goal — whatever that is.

3. Weave your characters background into the scene and/or description of your middle chapters. Scatter their background along each chapter so your reader understands where your characters come from. As a reader I prefer it this way. I don’t like to read a big chunk about a character’s background in one chapter. It’s way too descriptive for me. But then, when I write it, it was not that easy. So to the writer whose novel I just read, I tip my hat to you guys!

4. Don’t buy when some other writer said “My characters wrote the novel for me. I just followed them around.” I guarantee your characters will run out of gas before you reach the middle section. For a novel, especially a long one, you definitely need at least a rough outline. Continue outlining while writing every chapter. This is what I’ve done. My outlining is not written in stone. I update and change as I write my middle chapters. I get several options on how I write the scenes.

5. If all fails, examine yourself. Yes, I’m talking about you. What is the level of your motivation? Do you really want to write or you just thinking about writing? Fantasizing about doing it and actually sitting down and writing are two different things. The later help you to finish your manuscript. Take a break if you find yourself unable to write anymore. I allowed myself to take a break for a day or two before I came back to tackle the middle portion of the novel. And during this break I read books about writing fiction to refresh my mind. Before I knew it, I was on my way to writing the middle section.

There are many more tips, but I’ll let you find out the rest.

And I shouldn’t waste your time reading more than you should. But I hope you can get rid of the middle blockage that brings on the blues to your writing endeavor.

Keep writing and don’t give up.