We can all discuss the opening and closing chapters until we fall off our chairs with exhaustion.
But what about the middle of the book?
I've always operated under the idea that the main turning point should happen here.
Something which impacts and/or changes the story.
What do you think?
Debbie x
I agree with Jonathan - I stumbled upon this book by accident and then used it to plan my children's novel. It helped me to get a structure and to find the points which needed to ebb and flow during the story. it also helped me with character planning.
I'm loving Sarah's food analogy but it's making me feel peckish! :-)
If you're struggling I can recommend a book called 'The Writer's Journey' by Christopher Vogler. Boring title, yes, but it fleshes out the 'Hero's Journey' idea, which if you've not come across it before is an industry-coined name for the skeleton of the majority of modern action adventure stories, including most historical, sci-fi, horror, and crime. Even romances can be fit to this mould.
Although I was familiar with the concept before I started writing I found it a useful reminder of how character involvement can ebb and flow around the plot, and of how to increase and decrease tension as you move through the middle of the story so the pace appears to vary, rather than it being monotonous from the reader's point of view.
Best of luck :)
I agree, Debbie.
By the middle all the rounded characters should be fleshed out. The plot and storyline should be advancing at pace. There should be dramatic landmark events which affect the protagonist. They cause the protagonist to adapt to his/her rapidly changing circumstances, as he/she strives to achieve their aims.
Sol Stein was a publisher, editor, best-selling author, and award winning lecturer on creative writing at American universities. He said the biggest problem with most novels he received was that they sagged in the middle.