Stalled, Stuck or Sagging

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Stuck in the middle with you.

While this might be great for a song, it's not such a fun experience for a writer...or the reader for that matter.

I recently read a post giving helpful hints for "saggy middles". Now if you know me personally, don't laugh...we're talking about stories, not tummies.

I have often experienced this very problem. I have what I believe are great characters, a thrilling plot, and I even have an idea how the story ends. I've written 50 pages or so. Now what? How do I get from the established problem to the imagined solution? More importantly, how do I avoid the pitfalls of wandering characters and sluggish action?

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Since I still struggle with this, I thought the best advice I could give would be to share what more experienced mystery author, Elizabeth Craig, aka Riley Adams has to say. She offers seven tips:

Increase the stakes. What does your character most want? Make it harder to reach. Is he afraid of something? Force him to face it. Is there trouble? Deepen it. Reveal a secret. Let your readers know something new about a character. Everyone loves gossip. Put your protagonist under pressure. She loses her job, or a friend. An unforeseen problem occurs. Work backwards. So you know how your story ends, start there and work backwards until you get to the middle. Introduce a new character. Enough said....but make sure the character is necessary. Otherwise you've just added another person to the milling crowd! Work on your subplot. This has been a life saver on the novel I am currently writing. When the main plot stalled, and I feared the story would never be written, a subplot emerged to help add a new twist. Contradict a truth. Is there something your character (or the reader) absolutely believes is true? Contradict it.

One vital tip I am trying to learn is to only include what is necessary. I think it will be an ongoing lesson!

[image error]If you would like to read Ms. Craig's post in its entirety, click the following link:

Writersinthestorm.Wordpress.com/2011/...

Lonely Hearts ~ a sweet Christian Romance
The Price of Trust ~ Christian Romantic Suspense
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