Forum Transcripts

The Desert of the Middle 3/10/06

Event start time:

Thu Mar 09 19:14:03 2006

Event end time:

Fri Mar 10 20:29:33 2006



Legend:
Questions from the Audience are presented in red.
Answers by the Speaker are in black.
The Moderator's comments are in blue.

guestspeaker

mary?

mary rosenblum

Hello all!

mary rosenblum

Welcome to our Fiday After Hours Forum.

mary rosenblum

This is our After Hours Forum, with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor and we're talking about middles. I've published seven novels (number eight will be out next year) , more than 60 short stories, and will do my best to answer any questions you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into the regular send bar if that works better for you..

mary rosenblum

I hope you've all had a good week and are looking forward to the weekend.

mary rosenblum

I wanted to talk about middles tonight.

mary rosenblum

When you're working with short short stories, they're not usually much of a problem...

mary rosenblum

but when you work at longer length or move on to novels...

mary rosenblum

you can find yourself in a vast, empty desert in the middle...or bogged down in quicksand.

mary rosenblum

Neither situation is awfullly helpful to the story.

mary rosenblum

A lot of folks have no trouble getting started and then...they bog down.

mary rosenblum

They run out of that initial energy.

mary rosenblum

Sometimes it's just a matter of plotting.

mary rosenblum

You have a great idea for a strong hook scene...

mary rosenblum

and it carries your characters well into the story.

mary rosenblum

And you know where you're going to end up....

mary rosenblum

but all of a sudden, you finish up all those events that began your story and...now what?

mary rosenblum

You can't really end the story yet, but how do you keep yourself and the reader interested while you get to that great climax scene?

mary rosenblum

As someone who generally works at the 7000 - 10,000 word range in short form, or novels, I have to deal with middles all the time. :-)

mary rosenblum

Even in a 2000 word short story, you can have a weak middle that weakens your whole story.

mary rosenblum

This is our After Hours Forum, with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor and we're talking about middles. I've published seven novels (number eight will be out next year) , more than 60 short stories, and will do my best to answer any questions you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into the regular send bar if that works better for you..

mary rosenblum

This is where you put on your creative hat and start throwing 'what ifs' about.

paminnapa

i wrote a novel last nov......the middle was the hardest part...i couldnt write anything or go anywhere....almost gave up then finally was able to hop the desert but it was really a struggle....until one charachter stared at another.....then i got back on a role...it was sure tough though

mary rosenblum

It usually is, pam. :-)

mary rosenblum

And what happened when one character stared at the other?

paminnapa

ended up writing my first love scene

mary rosenblum

There you go. :-)

mary rosenblum

Or it could be a fight...

mary rosenblum

Character subplots like that are a GREAT lifeline to pull you through the middle.

mary rosenblum

In a novel or a lengthy short story, think about the backgrounds of your secondary characters.

mary rosenblum

What might crop up to cause trouble?

mary rosenblum

Maybe two of your secondaries have been nursing a bit of friction for the last few days or weeks...

mary rosenblum

and suddenly it erupts.

mary rosenblum

try using /ask in your regular send bar so you can ask a longer question, corky...

mary rosenblum

or send it in sections. :-)

corkytor

what if you save one of those initial events to carry your characters all the way through.

mary rosenblum

Well, if you can do that, it's great.

mary rosenblum

Sometimes, though, the events that propell readers into the story are connected and have to play out together...

mary rosenblum

and eventually you run out of 'and then...'

mary rosenblum

But if you can figure out what dramatic events you can inflict on the middle before you begin...

mary rosenblum

you'll have an easier time of it. :-)

jyinxy

recently a friend read a rough draft of mine and said i had too many charcters. is there ever a "reccommended amount" of charcters that should be used - how do you know when too much is too much for a book?

mary rosenblum

Very good question, jyinxy.

mary rosenblum

Essentially, you have too many characters when readers begin to confuse them.

mary rosenblum

In some ways that depends on you, the writer.

mary rosenblum

A very strong writer, can bring more characters to vivid life, so that readers are never confused, than a weaker writer.

mary rosenblum

When you're first starting out and you probably haven't acquired the full craft strenght that you'll eventually have...

mary rosenblum

you are probably better off sticking to fewer characters.

mary rosenblum

I'm reviewing a book for an award right now...writer has, let me count...

mary rosenblum

about ten major characters...it's an epic fantasy.

mary rosenblum

They are distinct.

mary rosenblum

But this is a writer who has been a big name in fantasy for many many years. She is very good at this.

canyon

Is it unusual to throw in a conflict w/o knowin exactly at that point where its going, but just doing to keep it going.

mary rosenblum

Sure canyon. If you grind to a stop in the middle of the book or story, make something happen.

mary rosenblum

Drop a house into the middle of the scene. Do something!

mary rosenblum

Once you figure out how to tie this into the main plot, you're almost certainly going to have to go back...

mary rosenblum

from page one and add 'plants' so that the emergence of this conflict in the middle has its origins early in the story..

mary rosenblum

but that's part of what you DO in revisions. :-)

canyon

Needful Things has a lot of characteres.

mary rosenblum

Well, if your readers have a hard time telling one from another, you may have to simply work on your characterization...

mary rosenblum

or make some of your 'cast of thousands' main characters and others secondary characters.

janecj333

When you have multiple pov in a novel, the goals of a secondary character can be a diversion that leads into a new conflict for the main character and her goal(s). Those roadblocks often lead me off into interesting middle scenes, not to mention occas. flashbacks.

mary rosenblum

Yes indeed, Jane, they're very useful that way.

mary rosenblum

That's what secondary characters are FOR. :-) They drive subplots.

mary rosenblum

And if you find yourself up against a stretch of blankness, pick a secondary character you don't know a lot about...

mary rosenblum

and start making things up. Find something in his/her background...

mary rosenblum

that can cause trouble right now.

mary rosenblum

Maybe they meet someone and it turns out this character has a 'past'...

mary rosenblum

one that he/she has never admitted to...and that 'past' now complicates the lives of the other characters.

mary rosenblum

Say you have a band of people who have to cross a tundra to get to where the climax will take place. :-)

mary rosenblum

And Nothing Much Happens.

mary rosenblum

Well, maybe they meet a band of raiders and it turns out Ms. Secondary happens to be the sister of the leader...

mary rosenblum

who left to live in the city long ago...

mary rosenblum

and not only do you have the near disaster as the raiders attack, and the interest of the resolution of that drama...

mary rosenblum

but you might realize you can use the raiders to help your band get into the walled city...

mary rosenblum

or get away after, or somehow connect to your main plot in some other way.

mary rosenblum

If nothing else, you can create a natural disaster...storm or what have you...

mary rosenblum

that allows you to deepend the characterization a bit more as your characters deal with crisis.

mary rosenblum

Remember...your 'middle addition' does need to add to the story.

mary rosenblum

You can ALWAYS use more character-deepening, so if nothing else, use it for that.

mary rosenblum

This is our After Hours Forum, with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor and we're talking about middles. I've published seven novels (number eight will be out next year) , more than 60 short stories, and will do my best to answer any questions you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into the regular send bar if that works better for you..

mary rosenblum

Don't forget, too, that you can add backstory right up to your climax.

mary rosenblum

You may be able to use that middle to let readers find out a bit more about your characters in terms of their past.

canyon

Do you find it true that a lot of more brand name authors seems to feel that they dont have to be interesting?

mary rosenblum

Oh, not true at all, canyon! :-) That doesn't mean they won't write books that are less powerful than say, the one that made 'em famous...

mary rosenblum

but it's not from laziness, believe me.

mary rosenblum

Yes, a less wonderful book will sell because that name is valuable. Hey, we work DARN hard to make our names valuable..

mary rosenblum

but they dont stay valuable if you write lousy books.

mary rosenblum

Your numbers drop and pretty soon you don't sell your next book.

janecj333

I always try to remember that the middle of a story is tied up with what the main character wants. Not just her outward goal, which might be to save a child, but her inner goal, to redeem herself because of past failures. A need drives each character. Think "WHAT DOES SHE/HE WANT?"

mary rosenblum

That's your internal conflict, Jane.

mary rosenblum

It's the one that, in my opinion, drives the really strong stories, rather than the external plot.

mary rosenblum

But your middle is also a chance to give that secondary character you really like a chance to have the stage for a bit.

canyon

Ive found there were a lot of Stephen King books recently that were real stinkers.

mary rosenblum

Well, the way the publishing world works, canyon, is entirely on sales. When Stephen king no longer sells out the print runs, he'll have a hard time selling a title...

mary rosenblum

as long as enough fans buy his books so that the publishers make money on his books, he'll keep publishing with 'em.

mary rosenblum

BUT...

mary rosenblum

the REAL impetus...is internal...

mary rosenblum

We know how we're doing. :-) We may still sell the next novel, but if our sales are getting smaller, if the reviews are awful...

mary rosenblum

that HURTS. And it hurts in a way that your early rejection slips hurt, believe me. Or worse.

mary rosenblum

Every writer I know cares about whether this book is as good as, worse than, or better than the last one!

mary rosenblum

And we all want better. :-)

mary rosenblum

This is our After Hours Forum, with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor and we're talking about middles. I've published seven novels (number eight will be out next year) , more than 60 short stories, and will do my best to answer any questions you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into the regular send bar if that works better for you..

mary rosenblum

Of course, the other side of the middle issue is the bog.

mary rosenblum

That's when you get your character into a host of trivial scenes and complications...

mary rosenblum

and suddenly realize you've totally lost your way.

mary rosenblum

And you have no idea how to get to the climax from here. :-)

mary rosenblum

You see that in some big, sprawling epics with lots of characters.

janecj333

Do you wonder if the push to hurry writers up (get a book or two out each year) leads to reduced quality?

mary rosenblum

Publishing has always been that way... and yes, it hurst some writers. I think it really nailed Peterson. He took ten years to write Snow Falling on Cedars.

mary rosenblum

He didnt' get that for book two.

jyd

But if each of your novels are different how do you compare?

mary rosenblum

Oh, goodness, you know!

mary rosenblum

You know what you're trying to achieve and you know how well you succeeded. :-)

mary rosenblum

No, you don't know it with the first story you write, but you get there. :-)

dwkav

and with many of the classics. There was a time when novelists were paid by the word, so they beefed up their stories with stuff that had nothing to do with the story.

mary rosenblum

Oh yeah! Look at Dickens! He's a marvelous writer and his details are lovely but he was getting paid by the word and it sure shows! LOL

canyon

would you say that books 2-6 in Harry Potter are all middle?

mary rosenblum

OH, you can say a lot of things about HP...Rowling is under a lot of pressure. When you have that much money involved, you get pressured.

mary rosenblum

And you know everybody is looking at you. :-)

mary rosenblum

Fame means good bucks, but it's a double edged sword in terms of your creativity.

dwkav

Grapes of Wrath. You only have to read every other chapter.

mary rosenblum

LOL...Steinbeck does like to meander.

dwkav

I think each is a complete story in itself.

mary rosenblum

You mean G of W's chapters? :-)

mary rosenblum

But Steinbeck was a short story writer, and I think that shapes his novels.

canyon

Is it normal, as w/ Rowling, getting 2-3 yrs to produce a book?

mary rosenblum

When you have her sales, you can have whatever you want, canyon! I'm sure the publisher wanted less time!

dwkav

yeah. Hope I'm remembering the right book, but there'll be a chapter on the story, and then one about a turtle crossing the road type of stuff.

mary rosenblum

Steinbeck does that a lot, and I wonder if it isn't because he did a lot of short stories, too.

mary rosenblum

Cannery Row is like that.

mary rosenblum

But that's one thing to beware of in the middle of your book...especially if you're using a lot of main characters..

mary rosenblum

your middle can get away from you and pretty soon, your reader has forgotten where you were going in the first place.

mary rosenblum

That is not good.

mary rosenblum

My rule of thumb is that something in every chapter needs to tie into the main plot.

mary rosenblum

Otherwise you can wander way off course.

mary rosenblum

In mystery, it's not a problem. That tends to be a pretty linear form...

mary rosenblum

you're always pursuing the murderer.

mary rosenblum

But in SF, where I'm building complex worlds, and I use many 'worldbuilding' subplots, I have to pay more attention to that rule.

mary rosenblum

That's another good use of your middle for all of you using 'exotic' settings...

mary rosenblum

your middle is a great place for worldbuilding subplots.

mary rosenblum

Give your characters reasons to explore the location.

mary rosenblum

Your readers are happy, your middle tightens up, and we get to explore your interesting world.

mary rosenblum

For example...in the last novel...I hit a slow middle spot...

mary rosenblum

Had to have my MC make connection with a local person...but the whole section was starting to feel dull.

mary rosenblum

So I invented a zero-gravity soccer game that every body local plays (this takes placeon an orbital platform), had my MC stumble into it by accident...

mary rosenblum

and got to do a lot of FUN action as she litterly crashed into the person she needed to meet. Let me liven up the dull section, made the connection I needed, and woke up the drowsing reader. :-)

mary rosenblum

That's a 'middle device' pure and simple. But it adds to the story.

mary rosenblum

This is our After Hours Forum, with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor and we're talking about middles. I've published seven novels (number eight will be out next year) , more than 60 short stories, and will do my best to answer any questions you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into the regular send bar if that works better for you..

canyon

Is it possible to focus on Main characters adventure through to the end, w/o breaking away from them or their adventure?

mary rosenblum

Sure. Many strong single-character books do exactly that, canyon.

mary rosenblum

It's common in the mystery form...usually you have a single MC.

mary rosenblum

Even if you're sticking to one POV and not leaving that character's side, you can still run into middle problems...

mary rosenblum

and in some ways, they're tougher to deal with...

mary rosenblum

because you don't have the option of other characters taking over for a bit.

mary rosenblum

That

mary rosenblum

That's when you play the 'throw something at the character' game.

mary rosenblum

A storm comes up. It floods. The MC gets arrested. Something happens.

mary rosenblum

And often that desparate device you throw out to save the middle will add significantly to your story. :-)

mary rosenblum

You start making connections, it inspires somethign else, you realize it will tie in another way...

mary rosenblum

and it becomes a powerful component, not just a patch.

mary rosenblum

Now if you're working on short stories...under five thousand words, say...

mary rosenblum

and especially if you're down around 3500 or less...

mary rosenblum

you can simply ignore middles.

mary rosenblum

Just transition through 'em.

mary rosenblum

Is it boring?

mary rosenblum

Summarize it and move on.

mary rosenblum

Julie spent the next week on auto pilot, filing, typing, and making coffee in a daze of expectation.

mary rosenblum

There, you just wiped out the middle.

mary rosenblum

Middles become an increasing problem as your work lengthens. :-)

mary rosenblum

You can ignore them in short form.

janecj333

He seared the Earth in half with one sweep of his lazarkannon. He was on planet Gorg in under a week, sipping tres at the bar.

mary rosenblum

There you go. :-) Of course if THAT middle is boring, the beginning and end had better be dynamite! LOL

mary rosenblum

I do see a lot of middle problems in novice short stories...

mary rosenblum

and usually they are of that sort...we get to watch Julie trudge to work for a whole week while Nothing Much Happens.

mary rosenblum

This is our After Hours Forum, with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor and we're talking about middles. I've published seven novels (number eight will be out next year) , more than 60 short stories, and will do my best to answer any questions you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into the regular send bar if that works better for you..

mary rosenblum

If you are working with a novel that has a huge cast of characters...

mary rosenblum

It's a good idea to really focus, in those middle chapters, on keeping some kind of clear forward momentum to your main plot.

mary rosenblum

Those are the books that can turn into a bog in the middle.

mary rosenblum

You can always bring in a new character in the middle of a novel if you need to.

mary rosenblum

Just make sure that this person does tie into your main plot...but if that's the only way you...

mary rosenblum

can find to bring that middle to life, go for it.

mary rosenblum

And of course, if you think about it for a bit, I bet you can find that this new character has...

mary rosenblum

some connection in the past to one of your main or strong secondary characters. :-)

mary rosenblum

That's the part of writing I really love...that even after you think you know your story...

mary rosenblum

you have to come up with creative solutions to these bumps and blind alleys. :-)

mary rosenblum

So even if you outline, even if you think you know this thing inside and out...story is an organic thing...

mary rosenblum

and it keeps growing, morphing,and can really surprise you.

mary rosenblum

Anyone got a slow middle? Or bogged down in one?

info

what if the only connection bringing in a secondary character has is to bump into the mc, causing a chain reaction, getting the mc to think about what he/she is missing or not seeing and then the secondary character disappears in the rest of the book? Good or bad thing?

mary rosenblum

That can work fine, info.

mary rosenblum

You just make this a spear carrier...a character who isn't deeply developed...

mary rosenblum

he or she catalyzes something else, then his/her job is done, and that character is never seen again.

mary rosenblum

What you do not want to do is to bring that charcter onstage and begin to develop this person...

mary rosenblum

like an important character and THEN disappear him or her.

speckledorf

I have a character in my dragon fantasy...he just showed up. My male mc "had to speak" with him...any ideas what they are planning?

mary rosenblum

sounds as if your creative right brain thinks your MC needs a foil, speck. :-) Or someone to talk to.

janecj333

I'm in the middle of a first-person short story. I've never written in 1st and am thinking of switching to 3rd. I think my real problem is that I don't really know what I want to say about the characters, except that the mc thinks her problems are LARGE, whereas, in reality, and metaphorically, they are so very small.

mary rosenblum

Hmmm, jane...you might switch to third and see how it compares. Try a scene and see what it feels like.

mary rosenblum

I've found that I cannot do a good first person POV if I don't like that character. :-)

mary rosenblum

Now that's just me...I know writers who do that.

mary rosenblum

I have found that if something doesn't want to work and I can't put my finger on why, I often need to swap POV from third to first or vice versa.

geezer

I have a slow beginning. I need to drag out a chase, Any suggestions?

mary rosenblum

Well, a chase sounds like a strong start to me, geeze. Are you starting with the chase? I'd recommend that. Slip the backstory in later, every time your POV pauses to pant. :-)

canyon

writing in first person, it seems to me in real life, no person can have that kind of detailed recall.

mary rosenblum

Ah, canyon, but there's the trick of strong first person...

mary rosenblum

you create the effect that we are sharing the MC's awareness as the action takes place...

mary rosenblum

that the characters are, in effect, talking to themselves about what they're experiencing...

mary rosenblum

rather than telling a story around a dinner table...although that certainly works, too.

janecj333

I don't like the mc in particular, a conscienceless person.

mary rosenblum

Ah...I definitely recommend you give third a try, jane.

mary rosenblum

See if it doesn't work better for you.

mary rosenblum

OR use a narrator who is not the one you don't like...

mary rosenblum

and let us follow the conscienceless one's adventures through your first person narrator's awareness.

mary rosenblum

Like Scout in Mockingbird.

geezer

The problem is that it ends too quickly

mary rosenblum

Ah..

mary rosenblum

Try zooming in, Geeze...

mary rosenblum

the more you bring us in close to the details, the more time it takes your chase to play out.

mary rosenblum

Make it dramatic, but focus on the small actions of your MC as he/she tries to escape.

mary rosenblum

(Or capture...dunno who is chasing whom here! )

mary rosenblum

Either that, geeze, or make circumstance create a longer chase...

mary rosenblum

Well, this has been a fun Oregon Hour.

mary rosenblum

I'll post this in the usual place: Writing Craft: Forum Transcript.

mary rosenblum

Do join us on Sunday...same time...for our casual chat.

mary rosenblum

No topic...we just hang out and talk about...whatever.

mary rosenblum

Thanks for coming all!

andi

thanks Mary. You just gave me an idea I was stuck on

mary rosenblum

Great, Andi! I hope so!

mary rosenblum

See you all on Sunday!

beryl

You helped me, too.

mary rosenblum

Great beyrl! Glad I could! Night all!

 

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