Beating the Sloggy, Saggy, Soggy Middle

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Something horrible happens when I hit the middle of a first draft. The middle is just…the middle…the long, rambling second act. As soon as I arrive at that no-man’s land midpoint, it suddenly feels like I’m wading in mud waist-deep. All I can see are characters that sound the same, weak plot points, and I get STUCK and SUCK wind with a capital “S”. I start questioning myself. Should I scrap these pathetic pages? Is this novel complete tripe? For camaraderie and a kick in the pants, I bang on the chat room door of a writer friend. Invariably the conversation goes something like this:

Me: Do you feel like a hack when you’re writing the first draft?

Her: Yes. Are you in the middle?

Me: How did you know?

Her: I always feel like a phony when I hit the middle. Then I worry that the novel won’t sell—

Me: And then you won’t be able to pay your bills.

Her: And then you’ll lose your house.

Me: And your dreams.

Her: Yep. But the middle is the worst. Keep going. You’ll figure out the REAL problem. And remember, there’s always editing.

Me: Thank God for editing.

No matter how many novels you’ve written, these nasty feelings pop up and fairly often. So how do we combat these negative vibes, and more importantly, how do you FIX the problem?

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