The Middle of a Novel is the Hardest Part to Write

Your new novel is progressing nicely. Perhaps you’re 30,000 or 40,000 words in — far enough along to establish a rhythm. You have a clear idea of how the story ends and you’re excited to take the journey that will get you (and your characters) to the big finish.

Then you and your novel trip and fall into a giant vat of pudding. It’s cold, squishy, slippery, and quite difficult — tricky, really — to climb out of.

There’s a chance you’ll drown. Or suffocate. Unless, of course, you figure out a way to haul your pudding-y self out of there.

I’ve been in that bowl. Hated it. Never want to eat pudding again.

Okay, enough metaphor. The giant bowl of pudding is the middle, or maybe central two-thirds, of your story — the squishy bits you have only kinda, sorta worked out between the energetic beginning and the much anticipated climax.

You’re stuck. You don’t know what comes next. Yeah, it’s hard moving through pudding.

Any or all of the following exercises — a combination of thinking and writing — may help you get un-stuck so you can convert that squishy middle into muscle and power your story forward.

1. Scrutinize Point of View (POV)

When your story grinds to a halt, one possible culprit is your chosen POV. First-person POV is marvelous for revealing the protagonist’s inner life to the reader. But this approach can also become airless if the protagonist’s experiences and ways of moving through the world are too narrow in scope. If you’re relying on first-person POV, ask whether the story can truly be carried, richly and fully, on one character’s shoulders. Could the story open up if you were to selectively switch POV between two or three characters, whether in first person or third? Don’t be afraid to experiment.

2. Examine the Stakes

The stakes need to be high to begin with, so are they? High stakes revolve around the protagonist’s strong needs and wants. Will she find love? Will he ever recover from loss? Can they escape from danger? How will her powers change her? What if his secret is revealed? Stakes also drive a character’s motivation, which in turn helps drive the plot. Interrogate the action in your story: What are the places, spaces, relationships, and situations that help and hinder your protagonist’s ability to get what is needed, wanted, or deserved? Throw obstacles and doubts in the character’s path. Friction keeps a reader engaged and the story moving forward. As Lysander says in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, “The course of true love never did run smooth.”

3. Change the Pacing

One reason your story may lack a solid middle is because your writing is overly descriptive and discursive. You’re giving the reader a fast drive-by experience rather than the opportunity to stop and appreciate the scenery. A first draft, in particular, may be too abbreviated and closed up, depriving your story of the oxygen it needs to breathe. Analyze each scene for opportunities to slow down and dive more deeply into the moment through deeper dialogue, action, enlightening backstory or flashbacks, spatial context, and other ways that show rather than tell. Doing so may help the story to grow and deepen so that you develop a convincing middle that connects the opening, the climax, and the denouement.

4. Consult an Outsider

If you are really stuck in the pudding bowl, describe your story (character, plots, conflicts, resolutions) to a friend who is a good listener. Invite the friend to ask probing questions about what happens, why, to whom, and so forth. The questions may provide fresh prompts for you to consider in developing and deepening the story.

5. Try Lucid Dreaming

This doesn’t work for everyone, but you might be surprised. When you go to bed, don’t listen to music or white noise, and don’t stare at a screen until you nod off. Instead, use the transition time between waking and sleeping to picture your story, your characters, and ask yourself questions about their motives, their needs and wants, and what gets in their way. Let your mind roam freely — but only as it relates to your story. Pose what-if questions, such as, What if he’s not her friend, but her enemy? What if she decides to leave him, rather than to stay? What if the only way she can discover her powers is by being whisked away to another universe? If you get a great idea, jot quick notes on a nearby pad. Let the ideas fester overnight.

6. Walk Away (For Now)

There is no shame in putting your manuscript aside for several days, weeks, or a couple of months. Start something else. Then come back to it and let the story speak to you. Hopefully, it will tell you where to go next, and you’ll climb out of the pudding bowl for good.