Getting through a book's murky middle

I've heard it said that the only part of a novel more difficult than the middle is the beginning and the end. Amen.

Most of us know how our books start, and it's always good if we know how they end, but it's the murky middle that can get us bogged down. To avoid this (or at least to make it less of a pain in the butt than it can be) I do some planning in advance -- namely writing a plot synopsis (see my blog on February 2 on this topic). I know plenty of "seat of the pants" authors who just sit down at their keyboards and have at it, going where their characters take them. And it works -- for them. When you've got a character like Sarad Nukpana, following him down a dark alley is the last thing you want to do. Leading people astray and screwing with their minds are two of his deviant hobbies. Nope, I'm going to be telling him where to go as much as possible -- but remain open to the fact that sometimes my goblin bad boy has some awesome ideas. ; )

To get through the middle, and equally as important -- to confirm in your own mind that your book idea is solid to begin with -- it's good to do a plot synop, especially if this is your first attempt at writing a novel. Know how your book begins, how it ends, and have as many of the plot points in the middle as possible. If you do this and are still excited about your project, you just might be onto a book worth writing. But if you come up with a beginning, middle parts, and an ending and the book idea bores even you, it will bore readers. Either what you've plotted isn't what you should be writing (see yesterday's blog on this), or you have a good idea, but you haven't found the core of your story yet (see my blog for Thursday, May 29 on finding your book's core).

Hope this helps!

Coming up this week: Doing rewrites and why I love "gray" characters.

Lisa