When I was a kid in the late 1970s in Anderson, South Carolina, I’d sometimes have to go to the drugstore with my mother. This was not a fun trip for me. Other than Belk Department store, the drugstore was the most boring place in the world.
The only redeeming quality to this shopping trip was the comic books. The store had them on a wire rack. They were packaged in sets of three inside a plastic wrap. So you could see the comics on the front and the back of the 3-pack. Those comics would be something great like Peanuts, Donald Duck, or Little Lulu. But the one sandwiched in the middle of the pack was a mystery.
And it was always awful. When I unwrapped the pack in the car, I’d find a dreaded Boy Comic Book. (Sorry boys.) That would have even been okay if it’d been a decent boy comic like Superfriends. But no, it would be some 3rd string, horrid comic book with awful illustrations.
Having a horrible middle in your book isn’t a good idea, even if your beginning and end are fantastic.
But it’s easy to lose focus in the middle of your story. Sometimes I think, “Where was I going with this, again?”
Here are some ideas about avoiding saggy middles:
Put the character another step toward their goal.
Put the character another step away from their goal (setback.)
Introduce a new character who either causes conflict for the protagonist, or helps him to his goal.
Put your protagonist under pressure.
Throw in a life-changing event. Death, birth, job loss, unexpected personal gain.
Plot backwards. Okay, I know it sounds bizarre. But some writers swear by it. Basically, it means to start at the end (assuming you know how the book ends) and plot backwards to the point where you currently are. What needs to happen to get you to the end point? Those key events in your story can be plugged in.
Work on your subplot. If your main plot is faltering, try working on your subplot for a couple of scenes and see if you can get back to the main story afterwards. Or see if you can connect the subplot to the main story in some way.
Include a suspenseful scene. If the story is getting boring and saggy to you, it’ll really seem so to a reader. Maybe a little excitement is in order.
Reveal a secret. Or disclose some previously-unrevealed depth to your protagonist or a secondary character.
Since I’m a mystery writer? I don’t have a problem with saggy middles. In each of my books, you’ll find a dead body right in the center of the novel. :)
Got saggy middles? How do you deal with them?
Elizabeth – You’re so right about middles of stories. Agatha Christie’s Ariadne Oliver used to say that she would “throw in another body and get the heroine kidnapped again” if things dragged in her books. Well….I don’t do that, but I find that adding to the suspense helps. I’ve done the second-murder thing, the new-suspect thing and the secret thing. They’ve helped me…
Sit-ups. I deal with saggy middles with sit-ups.
Wait, you meant something else?
On a (semi-)serious note, good lady, I must say I admire your capacity for brevity with blog posts. I ain’t figgered that wun out yit.
Brava, diva!
Yes, I have saggy middles!!!
I can offer no advice on what to do about it because it continues to elude me. I can write the start and finish but the middle falters. I keep thinking it’s not enough? Then I add too much upheaval, and the book gets far too long and complicated. (More often it’s the second problem.)
Plotting backwards? You’re a lifesaver, Elizabeth! I’ve never heard of that. :D
I’m trying it. Thanks!
(And my apologies for adding absolutely nothing of value to this post. LOL.)
Corra ;)
from the desk of a writer
Great post and wonderful advice. I plan on printing this one out. :0)
Middles are hard. I just finished mine! Hard!
I added a new character and it was great, unexpected even to me. She is a firecracker who really knew how to shake things up!
I loved reading Archie comics!
Luckily, all the mystery and horror novels in my collection have no sagging middles. Those that tend to drone halfway are historical dramas and other genres that can’t be categorized as neither mystery nor horror. Usually I couldn’t keep myself from skipping a few chapters lest I want to fall asleep or lose interest in the novel altogether.
I had a writing instructor give us the “secret” about muddy middles. At exactly the book’s halfway point, twist the plot 180 degrees. Sounds good in theory, a little harder to implement.
I always learn something new when I come to your blog! I definitely have problems with saggy middles – the part where I lost my zeal from the beginning and where I haven’t yet found the enthusiasm to finish. Thanks for the tips!
Once again,thank you for your writing wisdom. P.S. You said if you wrote a nonfiction book, you’d need to learn that genre. Dearest Elizabeth, you are already doing it right here!
Blessings,
Karen
Oooh—Plotting backwards? That’s awesome! I’ll have to try it. Maybe it’ll break me out of being a panster!
I think you have to continue to look at each scene. Plot points? Are there at least 3 reasons for the scene to be there? And yes, in mystery, finding that the “surefire solution” to the mystery was a false lead can help.
Of course, the dead body approach can work as well.
Since I ALWAYS worry about the middle, I’m printing this post to keep. Thank you!
ah, middles – I have problems with them too. Maybe it is because we think there are middles when in fact there aren’t. There’s a lot of front and a lot of back and no middle. Yep, that’s how I’m going to think of it from now on. No padding, just enticing and teasing and then striking and peaking.
Elizabeth, this is great! I always start and finish strong and find the middle the toughest part to trudge through. That’s one reason I’ve taken soooooo loooooon in editing this darn trilogy! But I’m glad I’ve taken the time to do the extra sit-ups. Don’t want any saggy middles!
Happy Weekend,
Jen
I’d heard that the secret to writing a great book was a great beginning and a great ending – and to place those two things as close together as possible! LOL
Middles are hard. Throwing another body at the reader is a good plan; how I wish I could do it! But I can’t…
Knowing the ending before you start gives you all sorts of freedom, I’ve been grateful more than once that I know where I’m going.
Elspeth
Great advice, Elizabeth. I especially like the idea of plotting backwards. That is what I need to do in a mystery I have been stuck on for some time.
I hate middles and often refer to what happens to me as “the boggy middle blues”. Not too different from your “soggy middles.” Maybe we could write a song.
*snorts at Simon* You know, that isn’t bad, metaphorically speaking… tighten regularly and the middle is better.
Middles are the bane of my existence, and I am one of those that SWEARS by plotting backwards (this would be why I never finished a book until I learned I had to know the ending). Often if I flesh out my ending better I realize a MOTIVATION for one of the bad guys, or how somebody has been USED or manipulated to get there… that helps the middle flow again. I start knowing the WHAT of the end, when I get stuck in the middle I think really hard about the WHY.
Saggy middles can mean you need to put your book on a diet. You’ve got too much fluff; you need to cut. When my middle sags (talking book here, folks), it usually means I’ve lost direction. I have to stop, step back and figure out where I need to be going and where I veered off.
As always, a wonderful post, Elizabeth.
Helen
Straight From Hel
Pressure and life-changing events.
I loved all the other suggestions you listed.
~ Wendy
Sound advice for the often sagging & sinking “Middle Ground” in a book.
Marvin D Wilson
Great post. You are so right about saggy middles. I noticed this in my last WiP, and when I began NaNo, I was planning on plotting out the whole story, an outline, everything.
Then the panster in me took over. Held me at gunpoint. I swear.
But hey, at least I did recognize at one point that I could use a little more organization. Anyway, thanks for reminding us what we SHOULD be doing.
I remember going to the drugstore when I was a kid, sitting at the counter and orderintg a choocolate milk shake.
And to avoid a a saggy middle, I insert a couple murders just for fun. Usually a knock-down drag ’em out fight. Something fun and unique.
Stephen Tremp
These are all great suggestions, but whatever you throw at your protagonist in the middle, you have to make sure that the challenge means something to her/his internal conflict or external conflict. Otherwise, the action comes off as random and disconnected. And yeah, it’ll make the middle drag, no matter how exciting you think the challenge is.
Margot–I’d forgotten that Ariadne said that! So funny. Yeah, that’s me, though. Dead bodies! Bring them on.
New suspect thing…that sounds like a good thing to try. Right after I dump that second body in there…
Simon–Or the Wii. The Wii is great for de-sagging. ;)
Thanks for saying they’re brief. I struggle against verbosity every day. I’d be a good rambler if I didn’t know I’d be cutting like a fiend later.
Corra–Hart (the Tart) is actually the expert at backwards plotting. A lot of people really swear by it. For me, the dead body does the trick. :) But when I stop writing mysteries, I’ll have to try the backwards plotting method!
Kristi–Thanks!
Jan–That’s a good plan. Maybe we can trick ourselves into thinking we’re still working on the beginning. Or that we’ve started the ending. No middles for us!
Diane–I love it!
Tamika–I think that’s a great thing to do in the middle. Then you get to concentrate on this new character and they change the dynamics in the story.
I had some Archies, too!
Hart–You’ve got this really innovative technique for writing–I like the way you’ve got your plotting nailed like that. To me it’s a challenge to think backwards. Actually, it’s a challenge to think more than a couple of moves ahead on the plot, going forwards. This is why I’m horrible at chess.
Distressed–I think lit fic sometimes gets a little saggy. They would do well to drop in a dead body. :)
Alan–That’s an interesting plan. I wonder if that means I’d have to resurrect some dead bodies, though…? :)
Helen–That’s a great way of looking at it. So there we are with this bloated book that we’ve lost direction on…good to find the right course again.
Wendy–Thanks!
Julie–I think it’s a kind of burnout, don’t you? We just have to rediscover that spark.
Marvin–Thanks!
Karen–You’re so sweet! Maybe I’ll give it a go after my fiction projects are over (2011 or 12). I think it would be a challenge for me, for sure. Whether it would be a good challenge or a bad challenge, I don’t know. :)
Kristen–There are some writers who swear by it. I can see how it would stir up the creativity as well as help set a plan in motion.
Eric–Yeah, outlines don’t work for me. But when I get stuck, I do brainstorm and see where I can go with the story. Because, if I’M stuck, the story is probably getting saggy.
Stephen–There was one cool drugstore when I was a kid that had milkshakes. My grandmother would take me there. But the one my mom went to was sooo boring.
Action scenes…good point. Those are really helpful for middles.
Terry–You’re so right. Because if we put a lot of filler in the middle, the reader isn’t going to stick around.
Carol–Hope it helps! :)
I try to add an unexpected action scene to help saggy middles and to surprise the reader. Since I don’t write from an outline, they sometimes surprise me as well!
I LOVED those 3 packs of comics, I was always sure I’d get a treasure when I opened it. Unfortunately the reality was more often the third rate comic. But the anticipation was incredible :)
Lots of great comments. I’ll never for the imagery of the saggin middle. It indicates that SOMETHING must be done. In music, they change key, crash the symbols, or have a long, dramatic pause. I think it was over at the Wagging Tales blog where she reminded us to “bring in a guy with a gun.”
I agree that middles can be problematic, and your advice is (as always) extremely helpful.
Oh, yeah, plotting backwards. That’s sorta how I wrote book one. Started at the end, because I knew how I wanted it to end. Wrote the beginning for the same reasons, then stitched the two together with enough fabric that I hope it makes sense. Good points, Elizabeth.
Best Regards, Galen.
Imagineering Fiction Blog
Jane–I like the “make it up as you go along approach.” :)
Jen–No saggies for us!
Elspeth–You’re always so organized with your approach! I’m very haphazard in comparison, I think.
Maryann–I think the plotting backwards idea is a fresh approach–kind of gets the creative juices going again.
A song! That would be really cool. Except I wouldn’t be able to sing it. Tone deaf.
Mary–A guy with a gun sounds like a great idea! At least in my line of books. :)
Martin–Thanks. And thanks for stopping by!
Galen–And it worked out really, really well for you!
Suzanne–You’re right–it needs to directly affect the plot. Otherwise, it’s just filler and who needs it?
What a great topic! I am a middle-child, used to dwelling smack dab in the center, so maybe that’s why I find it hallowed ground?
Jemi–I guess we were eternal optimists, weren’t we? We always thought it would be something better than what it was!
Elizabeth–Middles should be good for you, then!
I love your blog for your great ideas. I’m in the middle of my story now and needed this.
ann
love these ideas
read somewhere that Margaret Mitchell wrote the end of “Gone With the Wind” and then wrote her way back to it.. Stacks and stacks of envelopes with different scenes in them…
Ann–Thanks! Hope they help.
Sally–I didn’t know that! Very interesting. She was such an innovative writer that I can see how she’d have great ideas on plotting.
How about reversals? Where something turns on its head, the character switches sides, etc, someone good turns out bad, someone bad turns out good, etc…
More great advice. I always go for making things tougher on my characters in the middle, preferably doing something unexpected. I had my sleuth arrested in the middle of my last book. Put a crimp in her nosing around for a bit.
My gran used to take me to Skagg’s Drugstore when I was a child, but I loved it–the toy aisle especially. I rarely wanted new toys after playing there for half an hour(as long as I got an ice cream cone too).
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