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  1. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    Trouble with the middle

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by Naomasa298, Sep 15, 2019.

    I'm struggling at the moment. I want to write something.

    I can come up with a concept. I can plan the start. I know what the climax is. It's all the bits in between that are giving me trouble. I'm one of those people that, once I know what I'm writing, I can rattle it off quite quickly. Execution has never been a problem, but it's getting to the point where I even start putting pen to paper that's difficult.

    I've had too many times when I've started writing and come up against a block, can't get past it and leave the story unfinished, so I don't want to start unless I know (at least approximately) how I can get from start to finish.

    How do you all cope?
     
  2. IHaveNoName

    IHaveNoName Senior Member Community Volunteer

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    I'm like you - I used to get ideas for stories all the time, and I'd dash out a few pages to begin with, then taper off because I had no idea where the story was going. Here are some things that helped me get my act together:

    * Jim Butcher once talked about what he calls the "Great Swampy Middle".
    * KM Weiland's Secrets of Story Writing series is an immense help, too, because it helps provide a structure for your story.
     
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  3. OrdinaryJoe

    OrdinaryJoe Active Member

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  4. AnimalAsLeader

    AnimalAsLeader Active Member

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    It helps to know the structure of a story. In western storytelling the part between the point where the protagonist embarks on their mission and the climax is as follows: Fun and games(learning the rules of the world), darkness approaching(first encounter with enemies), all is lost(darkest moment), light at the end of the tunnel .

    Such structure always helps me to plan what exactly I need.

    But then, if you have the start and the climax, maybe it suffices to ask yourself: What series of events will lead to this climax? Since in a story everything needs to follow from the previous scenes, there isnt really that much room to play around. If your character is a nice person at the start and a greedy asshole at the end, the bits in the middle should show them becoming that person.
     
  5. Baeraad

    Baeraad Senior Member

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    Honestly, I have no idea. Sometimes it just works out and sometimes it doesn't. :oops: You sort of have to strike a balance between just letting one thing lead to another and keeping an eye on where you actually want to end up.
     
  6. GrJs

    GrJs Active Member

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    I've heard a couple times that the issue is often paragraph or a page or two previous. Fix that and you can move forward. But another thing is to plan it to the ninth degree and see how that goes.
     
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  7. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    The middle should be the best part. That's where the story is. If you are having a hard time with that, perhaps the story isn't starting in the right place or your planned climax isn't the actual climax for you anticipated story.

    I was having a hard time with a story. Then I took my climax and decided to try starting the story there. Of course, this changed everything, but I got a much better story out of it. And it gave me more direction for the middle. It caused me to jump into the story rather than taking steps into the story. If you're really stuck, I think it's worth a try.
     
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  8. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    Oops, I did it again.

    I wrote the start and jumped to the ending. But at least this time, I know how I'm going to get from alpha to omega. :)
     
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  9. AceBoogie

    AceBoogie Banned

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    You have trouble with the middle because you don't know what you want to say. Find your voice, find what you want to say and the story will develop naturally!
     
  10. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    Here's a radical idea, to have a bit of fun and maybe crack this blockage. Start your story IN the middle. Put characters you don't know yet into an interesting situation, but you have no idea who they are, how they got there or where they're going. See what develops.

    Sometimes you can get an idea, simply by looking at a photograph. A photo can get you started. Especially if it's a candid one, taken of an event as it happens—and not by you, unless you were just a bystander and don't know any more about the event. Write the event as you see it, from the perspective of somebody who is in the photo, then think about how it got started and where it's going.

    I'm a big believer in the idea that if something isn't working ...especially in writing ...it's a good idea to change the approach.
     
  11. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    I've found a technique that helps. On my last couple of stories, I've basically started at the end and planned backwards.

    I start with the concluding scene and think "OK, how did they get here?", rather than planning in chronological order. It seems to work quite well for short stories - I'm not sure how well it will work for something longer yet.
     
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  12. Mumble Bee

    Mumble Bee Keep writing. Contributor

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    Have you tried taking is chapter by chapter?
     
  13. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    I haven't written anything longer than short stories at the moment. I'm a relatively new writer, so I'm working myself into it.
     
  14. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    Yeah, whatever works. I'm glad you found a way through.

    For me, it's beginnings. I have no trouble starting to write a story, but I'm damned if I know what the beginning will end up being, until I get to the end. I usually find I included a lot more than I needed to at the start. But where does a story actually BEGIN? That's a trick I'm still working on learning.

    For years, while working on subsequent drafts of my novel, I kept my first chapter as a journey my character took to reach where he needed to be, for the story interactions to start. Because the reason for his journey was important, I wrote it out, which gave me time to develop his character and the setting. However, I finally realised the journey itself wasn't needed after all. So I chopped that chapter down to just a couple of paragraphs, before launching straight into what had previously been Chapter Two, and I think the story's beginning is much clearer now. But I sure hated to see that journey go.

    I do have a Prologue though ...which is quite popular with my readers, and depicts the inciting incident, which happens 6 years before the journey. I wrote the Prologue AFTER I'd given out the original completed story to my beta readers ...who all wanted to know about that inciting incident much earlier on. The Prologue changes the focus of the story from 'what in heck is this guy's deal?' to watching him cope with consequences of the inciting incident.

    So you see, I have trouble with 'beginnings.' But I do get there, eventually.
     
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  15. LazyBear

    LazyBear Banned

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    I try not to think about the ending because you'll eventually reach an even better ending once the story arcs faded out one by one following natural events. It's also easy to accidentally break a pre-condition for anything planned in advance when writing impatiently for a long time.
     
  16. Thorn Cylenchar

    Thorn Cylenchar Senior Member

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    I do something like this. I will write an event that occurs somewhere in the middle and then go back and write out what had to occur for the characters to get there or for X to be happening. Sometimes it takes two or three jumps and now it's taking a complete rewrite of the early part of the story. But this has forced my characters to evolve a bit as I have been writing them more and more.

    Keep notes, make outlines as you think of things, and keep a page of random lines/quotes/scenes that you come up with. You may not have a place to put them yet but just having something to build off of can work wonders.

    Don't be afraid to have several different stories going at the same time. I have a couple short stories going in different styles and genres for when I want to write something different than my main story. I've found any writing can help me out of a rut on other stories as it gets my mind working.
     
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  17. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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    Just stick the ending on the beginning, and polish in your verbs and 'sense,' and that is your 2000 word short story finished.
     
  18. The Dapper Hooligan

    The Dapper Hooligan (V) ( ;,,;) (v) Contributor

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    [​IMG]
     
  19. peachalulu

    peachalulu Member Reviewer Contributor

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    I like an unexpected twist just to mess with the reader and challenge myself. After watching a dull Lifetime thriller I realize how much I want a twist. The middle felt like just a lengthy delay till the rather predictable ending. And it's not the endings fault it's that lack of obstacles in the middle that make the ending seem that much more tedious. I think writers can get so focused on adhering to patterns, word count, and endings that those middles can seem like pesky chores rather than the moments that really shape why you're ending and your character's journey should have such an impact.

    Take this movie I watched - girls at a vacation home suspect their host might be involved in the disappearance of a local girl. Rather than leaving said residence they stupidly stay, not only trust someone they only met a day ago, but they also reveal all new shady information too him. I would've had have several of the girls leave (but stay nearby possibly with the other suspect), several stay (now they're possibly in danger) and this splits the tension. Which girls made the right choice? By leaving them in the house you've narrowed the possibilities and outcomes.
    Look at your overall goals both for the characters and story and brainstorm some roadblocks that could take the story in an unexpected direction.
     
  20. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    With short stories, it's always a good thing to start as close to the end as possible. I guess I don't really understand the problem. You say you like to plan your stories and you know what the climax is so isn't that the middle? I gave an example a couple of posts up on what I did with one of my stories. Since you are writing short stories, why not start your story where you think the climax is? If you're having trouble reaching the climax from where you started, it probably means you started the story in the wrong place. I would also say to read a lot of short stories. I kind of seems like you're saying you just don't know how to write a story so look at many examples. Reading is a writer's best friend.
     
  21. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    Sorry, starting at the climax doesn't work for what I want to write, and removes the entire point of the story, which is to deliver the "twist" or the reveal. Yes, I could start with the reveal but that then asks the question, why write the story in the first place? And if I then have to go back and write the lead up to the reveal, I'm left with the same issue as before.

    So, as I said, planning the story from the end backwards, works for me.
     
  22. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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    When you read it back to yourself...as soon as you become annoyed...open a new doc...retaining only the sweet stuff...and continue...
     
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  23. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    This. See, right now I'm writing Tales of the Unexpected, not Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. What works in one format doesn't necessarily work in another, not for me at least - both from a reader's and a writer's perspective, certainly not at my current stage of development.
     
  24. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    I love this video and advice. Maybe it will help you out some. These are the words of a master. The advice is at least worth considering or trying. I'm a short story by trade and sell my stuff. Reading a ton of short stories is a necessity when it comes to writing them. I'm not saying you have to start with your climax, but if you can't write up to it, it doesn't sound like it's working. I'm just staying start as close to the end as possible which is one of the pieces of advice in this video, and I see it as a real game changer. If you can't write the middle (the meat of the story), then chances are the story isn't starting in the right place. I can't think of another reason why the middle (the actual story) would be so hard to write otherwise.

     
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  25. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    Like I just said - I've found a technique that is working for me right now.
     
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