Reference thread: https://www.writingforums.org/threads/stalling-on-chapter-1-kinda-long.166218/ I've hit that dreaded mid-novel slump. I've got the outline, the plot's high points, the start and the ending. I've even managed to break through getting the first chapter started. The problem is I've run out of crap for them to do. At the point where the plot stalled it's Victor, April and Vivica are on the run from the military. I've already planned for an encounter with the military, but after that, nothing. I could really use some generalized ideas. Maybe something to help spark a bit of inspiration.
Hey! Here to help! I have a few questions. 1. are you literally writing the first chapter and you’re running out of stuff to do? It seems like you have enough material to get to the midpoint. Any way you could post parts of your outline so we can get a better view?
I'm actually on chapter 4. I do sometime skip around in my writing too, so I have a lot of the later story finished. The plot, which will sound a bit odd, goes like this. Phase 1 Victor is working on a microprocessor he plans to use to create a neural network for an android. He's also experiencing increasingly worse headaches for an unknown reason. The headaches end up causing Victor to have a seizure and loose consciousness. Victor wakes up in a military infirmary and discovers he has psionic/mental abilities, but has lost the ability to speak verbally. Phase 2 He's rescued from the military base by Vivica, an android a future version of Victor sent 10 years into the past to find him. They end up on the run and go to pick up Victor's little sister April. This results in a shootout with the FBI/SWAT. The trio get away and try to leave the country. There's a planned encounter with the military. Plot Slump Phase 3 Works just fine.
If the latter half of the story is basically done or going well, and you're struggling with the beginning - may I ask if you've started your story at the right place? I have a novel like that. The protag's arc just doesn't even come in till the last 3rd of the book. There's a reason that book's structure doesn't work, despite my intense love for it. I've realised now the story I've written isn't the story I should have written at all. It's just not where the story starts, and it's not what the story is about. What I've learnt - and this novel took me 12 painful years so here's hoping you don't end up like me ok? - is don't get too attached to the events. Don't get too attached. Write whatever you have, go over it, now find what the story is about. There's an "A Story" and a "B Story" - the A is the main plot, the events. So in a crime novel, the A Story would be resolving the crime. Then the B Story is the character arc - that's the detective who confronts his demons, or his alcoholism, or reconciles with his family, or whatever his personal story is, whatever he's supposed to have learnt through the A Story. Figure out your B Story, and tailor events in A Story accordingly. Don't worry about changing events - someone once told me the events don't matter. The story matters, and your story is more than a compilation of logical events. If the first half isn't working, I'd ask if it's even needed. Is your story actually more than you thought? Does it extend further past your current "end" point than you thought? Is it about something else you hadn't realised? Once you find out what it's about, what can happen in your slump to build it up?
