Starting a new novel, I always try to look at the structure of the plot, but this time, I’m especially looking at character issues, since that’s my weakness.

A Story of XXX becomes a Story of ZZZ

It’s always that tricky second act that’s hard. The actions for the beginning and ending are easy, especially for the story I have in mind. But the second act is the place where characters confront each other and lives change. How to plan for that in the plot? How do you keep from having a sagging middle?

Often, there is a midpoint where a story totally shifts in a different direction. For example, in the movie “The Lion King”, there’s a dramatic shift. Act 1 is where the father is killed and Simba is left an orphan and runs away. Act 2/1st half he’s living the good life, “Acuna matata.” Then, his father talks to him from the stars and Simba realizes he must return home and face his evil uncle. A story of carefree living becomes a story of taking up his father’s mantle and leading his pack.

In the movie, “The Professional,” a teen’s family is murdered and a neighbor — who just happens to be a hit man — takes her in and protects her. The midpoint comes when these two unlikely characters realize they care for each other. A story of violence becomes a story of love.

The change isn’t always a 180 degree shift; sometimes, it’s a 90 degree shift. It just means that the character’s goals change somewhat because the character has changed.

Facing the Past

The midpoint often means facing something from your past. A secret is revealed. A character faces some guilt. A truth must be dealt with. It must cost the character something to turn in a different direction.

Sometimes the midpoint change is a switch from emphasis on the physical plot to an emphasis on the emotional plot. The physical plot in my new story is one of endurance. That’s just built into the events. So, I’m asking myself how this can change.

A struggle to endure becomes a struggle to understand.
A struggle to endure becomes a struggle to accept.
A struggle to endure becomes . . .

Not sure yet, where it will go, but thinking this way is helping me find the story I want to tell. It’s already meant changing the parents of my main character in more interesting ways. I’ve found some secrets in the family’s past.

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Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

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When do you start revising your novel? I start by revising the first draft of my novel’s plot outline, synopsis or treatment.

Revise Early and Late

As soon as I’ve written the first sketchy outlines of a novel, I’m revising. I’m looking for many things:

• Does the climax resolve the setup?
• Are the main characters together in a big scene at the climax?
• Is there a good inciting incident? What opening scene would catch reader’s attention?
• Are there places for the characters to grow and change?
• Could I think of better settings, places that will resonate better with the story?
• What conflicts run through the whole story?
• Can I give my MC more problems to overcome?
• Are there subplots that could support the main plot in interesting variations on a theme?
• Does the middle sag? How could I structure the story to heighten the tension all the way through?
• Does the ending have an interesting twist?
• What character has the most at stake emotionally? Can I use THAT character as the viewpoint and/or main character?
• Do I know the backstory , the events that took place before the opening scene? Can I plan to put that very late in the story?
• What character interactions are possible within this story?
• Can I write a timeline of each character and pinpoint scenes which help the character change?
• Any great places in the plot for action sequences?

In short, I’m looking at all the elements that usually need revision after I write the first draft and doing a Novel Diagnosis. But on my WIP, I’ve tried to work smarter and do the critque even earlier in the process — right after I wrote the three page synopsis of the plot.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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Power Abs: Fixing the Sagging Middle of Your Novel
This is part of a series, 30 Days to A Stronger Novel

One of the hardest things about plot is to keep the middle from sagging. The opening is full of action, and the ending brings all the plot elements together into a big scene. But that middle! What to do about it?

Peter Dunne proposes an unusual paradigm for the middle of a story in his book,   Emotional Structure: Creating the Story Beneath the Plot. Written for screenwriters, the principles still hold for novelists. Dunne says that the beginning and ending are about plot, or the outer problem. The middle is about what he calls “story” but most of us would call the inner problem. Beginning and ending–action. Middle–character.

That’s an interesting premise. When you’re plotting, it means that you need to think of the character’s inner arc, their growth arc, what makes them change, how do they change. Write out six or more steps of that growth and specifically, what provokes each step. Then, go back to the outer problem, the plot, and slot in events to match the inner arc. The last step on the inner arc forces the character to make a decision which sends him/her into the last climactic scenes of the plot.

I’m playing with this premise in my current WIP revision project, so I can’t say that it works yet. But already, I ‘m seeing some promise in the approach because it is focusing my plot in unexpected and exciting ways.  I think an attitude of openness to new approaches is essential, because each project seems to need a slightly different solution.

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Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win