With all the writing advice out there, we know that some “writing rules” we hear are more like guidelines. However, story structure is important not just for our writing but also for our readers—creating their overall sense of our story—so we should consider the risks before ignoring structure-specific guidelines.

In fact, if our story isn’t working well, we might be able to fix the issue by going deeper into the reasons behind those guidelines. Let’s take one example of a relatively minor aspect of story structure (that most advice doesn’t even mention) and look at how it can affect our story—and how our story can “break” if we fail to include the details readers need.

Story Structure at the 25% Mark

Before we start, first know that different story structure systems use different names for each point, but the function they fulfill for our story is the same. In other words, the names don’t matter.

For example, most story structure systems include a plot event (a story “beat”) around the 25% mark (often called the Catalyst, First Plot Point, or the End of the Beginning), and no matter the label used, the function of this beat is to create a “point of no return” forcing the protagonist into the story.

After this plot event, readers should have at least a hint of (and in many cases, a fairly good idea of):

• the story goal(s) and reasons for the goal (stakes)
• the main conflicts/antagonists/obstacles blocking that goal
• some of the internal issues complicating that goal

Those all work together to tell readers who they’re rooting for or against, what they’re rooting for or against, and what our story is about.

If we fail to include a story beat with this function around the 25%-ish mark (usually between 20-30%), our story’s pace will likely feel slow and/or readers might close the book in frustration at not understanding the point of the story. A well-developed 25%-mark beat will establish the story, plot, conflicts, stakes, and character/emotional arcs of the story.

Internal Issues at the 25% Mark

Those of you familiar with story structure probably expected those first 2 bullet points above, but maybe the last point was a surprise. Many story structure systems and beat sheets focus on the external issues of our story—plot, antagonists, villains, obstacles, etc.—and don’t touch on internal issues.

However, if we comprehend the deep, underlying purpose of a story’s structure at this 25% mark, we know that we want to not only show the goal our characters are aiming for, but also to at least hint at what’s preventing them from reaching that goal right now. After all, without something standing between our characters and their goal, readers will think our story would be over before it began. *grin*

For some stories, that “something” will be all about external obstacles and villains, just like the focus of most beat sheets. But for the remainder of stories (especially those with character arcs), readers should have seen hints by the 25% mark that the “something” also includes internal obstacles—such as characters’ false beliefs and backstory wounds—that interfere with the story goal(s) as well.

Going Deeper Helps Our Story (and Readers)

What’s a reader’s experience if they don’t see (at least) hints of the internal obstacles that will be complicating the protagonist’s path toward the goal(s)?

• Readers may think the external conflicts aren’t enough of an obstacle to the goal to create a story and simply close the book.
• Readers may question whether there’s anything other than a need for word count holding the character back from their goal (in a “the character struggles because the plot needs them to” problem) and lose patience with the story and characters.
• Negative character traits without a hint of an internal-arc goal to improve may be assumed to be permanent, which can make readers less likely to root for them.
• Any self-destructive (or obviously wrong) assumptions a character makes without a hint of how it ties into their internal arc (such as through a false belief or backstory wound) may make them less likable or sympathetic and lessen readers’ engagement with our story and characters.

For example, let’s take a character who assumes no one likes them. If readers have seen evidence throughout the first act that the assumption isn’t true, they might have a negative impression of the character for making such a patently false assumption. The assumption could even make readers frustrated, contemptuous, and dull their emotional connection to our character—and story. Not good.

One potential fix? By the 25%-ish mark, give readers hints/glimpses/allusions to a backstory wound causing that assumption.

Even just a few words hinting at something (such as: He’d learned his lesson about trying to make friends years ago.) can make all the difference between a character that readers sympathize with and a character that readers disdain. The hints give a reason for the character’s internal issues that keeps readers in their corner—and rooting for them to improve.

Story Structure Matters

Just as our story can look “broken” if we haven’t provided glimpses of enough conflict (external and/or internal) by the 25%-ish mark, similar problems can occur if we ignore the other major story structure guidelines or fail to go deep enough into the purpose behind each major story structure point. Story structure matters for creating the overall sense of our story—and for convincing readers that their time will be rewarded with a satisfying story.

So if we struggle with a story that seems broken, try going deeper into its structure and make sure to address the underlying purpose of each major beat in our story. We may discover a few easy edits to fix our story. *smile*

Do you have any questions or insights about story structure and how going deeper might help our story?

JAMI GOLD - Resident Writing Coach

Jami Gold put her talent for making up stuff to good use, such as by winning the 2015 National Readers’ Choice Award in Paranormal Romance for her novel Ironclad Devotion.

To help others reach their creative potential, she’s developed a massive collection of resources for writers. Explore her site to find worksheets—including the popular Romance Beat Sheet with 80,000+ downloads—workshops, and over 1000 posts on her blog about the craft, business, and life of writing. Her site has been named one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers by Writer’s Digest. Find out more about our RWC team here and connect with Jami below.

The post Story Not Behaving? Try Going Deeper into Structure appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

In a lecture series on Youtube, #1 New York Times best-selling author Brandon Sanderson talks about the three P’s of plot structure: Promise. Progress. Payoff. 

Promises are particularly important in the beginning of the story, as they draw in the audience. 

Progress keeps the audience invested, particularly through the middle of the story. If there is no sense of progress, then the reader feels as if the plot isn’t going anywhere. 

Payoff is what fulfills the promises of progress. It rewards the audience for sticking around, and if done properly, creates a feeling of satisfaction at the end of the story. 

While all three can be tricky in their own right, many writers struggle to create a proper sense of progress, which can lead to saggy middles. 

Luckily, Dramatica Theory breaks plot down into eight story points that essentially encapsulate progress.

If you apply them to your stories, your writing will always have progression through the middle.

1. Goal – Every story has a goal. It may be a goal of aspiration, such as becoming a top chef. Or it may be a goal of thwarting something, such as stopping a murderer. Whatever the case, a story’s goal is what enables us to measure progress. If there is no goal, then what one does, doesn’t really matter. We have no orientation or purpose, so there is no sense of moving forward or backward. The goal allows progress to happen. 

2. Requirements – In order to achieve the goal, something is required. This can be broken down into two variations. In one, the characters must follow an order of steps, like following a set of directions. In the other, the characters must do or obtain things in any order, like a shopping list. The characters in Jumanji, for example,have the goal to restore the world to normal. The requirement is to win the game. But they must do this in a proper order–they can’t skip turns.

3. Consequences – Consequences are what happen if a goal isn’t achieved or hasn’t yet been achieved. In some stories, the protagonist is trying to prevent the consequences, but in others, the protagonist is trying to stop the consequences that are already happening. Consequences might be thought of as overall stakes. In Ralph Breaks the Internet, if Ralph and Vanellope don’t buy a new steering wheel for Sugar Rush, then its characters will be homeless. 

4. Forewarnings – Forewarnings convey that the consequences are getting closer, becoming worse, or becoming permanent (depending on the story). If a dam is in danger of breaking, then a forwarning may be a crack that shoots out water. In Back to the Future, Marty’s family slowly disappearing from a photograph works as a forewarning. 

5. Dividends – Characters will likely receive small rewards for little successes along the journey to the goal. These are dividends. For example, on her journey to fight in the war in her father’s place, Mulan is rewarded honor and a place in the military when she is able to retrieve an arrow from a wooden post that none of the men could get down.

6. Costs – Just as the journey may include dividends, it also entails costs. These have negative impacts on the protagonist’s well-being. In order to win The Hunger Games, for example, one must be willing to kill others, which also includes psychological trauma. In order for Frodo to get to Mount Doom to destroy the Ring, he must suffer a loss of innocence. This is a cost. 

7. Prerequisites – There are often certain essentials one must have, to pursue the goal at all. These are prerequisites. Prerequisites on their own don’t bring the goal closer. This is why they aren’t requirements. In Interstellar, a spaceship, equipment, and astronauts are needed to travel space to find a new home (goal). But simply having those things doesn’t necessarily mean the characters are closer to discovering a liveable planet. 

8. Preconditions – Preconditions do not directly relate to the goal. They are “non-essential constraints or costs placed on the characters in exchange for the help of someone who controls essential prerequisites.” In Karate Kid, a prerequisite is that the protagonist must receive extra lessons from a master, but the master adds the precondition of doing chores. One does not technically need to do chores to do karate.

Some of these points are more direct–like requirements–while others are more indirect–like preconditions. The direct points will usually be more intense than the indirect. As you apply these elements to your stories, you’ll create a sense of progress–especially through the middle, which will help make any story more satisfying. 

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SEPTEMBER C FAWKES - Resident Writing Coach

September C. Fawkes is a freelance editor, writing instructor, and award-winning writing tip blogger. She has edited for award-winning and best-selling authors as well as beginning writers. Her blog won the Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers Award, Query Letter’s Top Writing Blog Award and has over 500 writing tips. She offers a live online writing course, “The Triarchy Method,” where she personally guides 10 students through developing their best books by focusing on the “bones” of story.

To learn more, visit SeptemberCFawkes.com and grab her AMAZING free guide on Crafting Powerful Protagonists. Find out more about our RWC team here and connect with September below.

The post The 8 Points of Progress appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

I know, I know, there’s an ocean of cracked, barren earth on all sides and you don’t where to go next in the story. It’s not a fun place to be, but at the same time, you’re not the first to arrive in No-Man’s-Land, and you won’t be the last. The middle of a novel can be difficult terrain to navigate if we’ve lost our map (or didn’t have one in the first place…looking at you, my pantsing friends!).

Stories tend to change and evolve, so whether you’ve wandered away from the original outline or you didn’t do much planning to start with, it’s okay. A novel’s middle is a foe all writers must face. So if you feel stuck because your pace and plot are flagging, take a break and do a novel check-in.

By Act 2, you should know your character’s main story goal. (It will look like one of these.) Hopefully you also know WHY they are chasing this goal, and the missing human need causing their internal discomfort.

The Second Act is about challenging your character, forcing them into corners and throwing rocks at them. In fact, this might be familiar:

Act 1: Force the character up a tree
Act 2: Throw rocks at him
Act 3: Get him down again

It’s simplistic, but the second act is all about rocks. We want to cause them pain, push them into the meat grinder. Why? Because challenges and trials will do two important things: 1) force them to prove they really want this goal (through sacrifice) and 2) give them a big, old reality check that this is going to be hard and if they want to win, they’ve got to change.

When it comes to trials or challenges, we want to throw a few things at our character. A good rule is three challenges. Have you written three moments that squeeze your character and force them to struggle? If not, what situations can you write into the story that take them out of their element?

Keep in mind your character will not always be successful when facing these obstacles or adversaries. Failure is part of a character’s journey because when this happens, they realize they need to do something different if they want to achieve their big goal. This epiphany happens at the midpoint of your novel and James Scott Bell has a great name for it: the Mirror Moment. Usually that “something different” involves internal growth where the character must change how they see the world, let go of past hang-ups, and face old fears.

Ideally, challenges will cause your character to doubt themselves and at times fear will rise up, but ultimately their internal reasons for wanting the goal and the stakes push them onward despite danger or hardship. Sometimes though, a character has too much self-doubt or fear. This can also cause a saggy middle, because they stubbornly refuse to act and instead try to run from the obstacles in their path.

Some running is normal, but too much is a death knell because your pacing goes into sloth mode. Because characters often let fear dictate their actions – causing inaction – is such a common problem, we created a tip sheet on applying Pressure Points at One Stop for Writers. PRESSURE is exactly what you need to get your character moving again.

Download this Pressure Point Tip Sheet here.

Finally, if your story stalls and you just know it needs…something, try a Plot Push. Plot Pushes add another layer of complication or intrigue to a story, giving it more depth.

You can download this Plotting Pushes Tip Sheet here.

The middle is also a good time to examine your subplots and to work on developing the other characters in the story who interact with your protagonist. What makes them tick? What do they want? How are they connected to the protagonist and how do they aid the hero or heroine toward their goal…or stand in their way of it?

Find ways to develop these characters and use the subplots to provide those challenges and tests for the protagonist!

I hope these ideas get your brains thrumming. A few more posts to check out:

Saggy Middle: Use Conflict to Nip and Tuck It
Four Ways to Fix a Boring Story
The Dangers of Anecdotal Writing
Beating the 30K Slump
5 Hacks to Keep Words Flowing
Fall In Love with Your Second Act

If you’re feeling stuck in the middle, don’t give up. Finish that novel. You’ve got this!

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post Stuck in No-Man’s-Land: Your Novel’s Middle appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Have you ever been burned by your story?

Often, authors get burned in the second act, and when it’s time to start the third act, the writing can feel like a relationship gone bad. By this point, it feels a bit like we’ve been living in a Van Halen song.

I get up, and nothin’ gets me down
You got it tough, I’ve seen the toughest around
And I know, baby, just how you feel
You got to roll with the punches and get to what’s real

I’ve Seen the Toughest Around

Our second act is the toughest around. By the end of it, we are tired, and our characters are bruised, battered, broken. They’re often alone, have destroyed relationships, or have gotten themselves into a dark place and can’t see the way out. They’ve seen the toughest parts of their story so far.

But we gotta…

Roll with the Punches to Get to What’s Real

Your story finds its central truth in the third act. And it’s often in the third act that you figure out what went wrong in the first act (more on that in a future post!). Here in the third act, your character puts to use all the things they’ve learned over the course of the story. From losing their relative innocence in the first act to dodging obstacles in the second, your character has stretched and grown since those first few scenes. 

The third act is the final test.

Ow Oh, Hey You!

Ow oh, hey you
Who said that?
Baby, how you been?

So here we are, ouching our way into the third act. It’s at this moment that our main character’s friends and allies are coming back on the scene, ready to make amends, asking, “Baby, how you been?” 

We start reconnecting and healing broken ties. Our character’s allies take a deep breath and decide to team up one more time to fight this final battle. Because despite the dark moments of the second act, our Big Bad is still out there, and it’s bigger and badder than before.

And there will be moments that you, the author, face the risk of your story burning you again. Even though you see the end in sight, there will still be moments of the unknown, of finding that you’ve written yourself into a corner, or you’ve forgotten about a secondary character, or something you’ve long imagined no longer fits the story. Your character, too, still makes missteps and mistakes that they have to work through.

But there will be moments of brilliance.

You Won’t Know Until You Begin

You say you don’t know
You won’t know until you begin

At this point in the story, you probably have a good idea of what secrets you’re about to reveal to your reader. That is an exciting part of the process. Your readers have no idea how you can possibly pull all those puzzle pieces together, and you get to show them the final picture. 

Even if you don’t know exactly how to tie things together, this is where your subconscious goes to work, pulling in ideas and moments you’ve already written, but didn’t realize were important until now. Because you simply won’t know until you begin the writing of this act and get the words on the page. 

Might as Well Jump

Ah, might as well jump (jump)
Might as well jump
Go ahead an’ jump (jump)
Go ahead and jump

Sure, the second act burned. It always does. And the third act is tough to write. You have to consider all the loose threads you’ve got dangling around your story and make sure there is a satisfying ending, as well as, if it’s a series, a good hook to keep reading the next book. There’s a lot riding on the third act. A lot of room to be burned.

I think Van Halen has the best advice for us here. You, and your character, well…

You might as well jump. You’ve seen the toughest there is. You are prepared to face the coming battle. You’re ready.

So go ahead. Jump.

CHRISTINA DELAY - Resident Writing Coach

Christina Delay is an award-winning author of psychological suspense, as well as mythological-based fantasy written under the pen name Kris Faryn. A wanderer by heart, Christina’s latest adventure has led her and her family to the southwest of France. When not planning their next quest, Christina can be found writing in her garden, hosting writing retreats, sneaking in a nap, or convincing her patooties to call her Empress. If you love books about complex characters who never know when to quit, with a good bit of will-they or won’t-they tension, check out her books.

The post Might as Well Jump—into the Third Act appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

What Is A Structural Toolbox?

Put simply, a structural toolbox is the foundation work all writers need to put in to ensure they …

• understand how structure works
• can apply structural techniques to their writing

Think of it as a collection of tools you have to hand in order to identify and fix your stories. This is why I like to call it a structural toolbox! 

An important thing to remember on structure is that one size will definitely NOT fit all. Different stories will call for different solutions … Just like different DIY jobs around the home will require different tools.

Why Writers Don’t Like Studying Structure

If this seems pretty obvious stuff, that’s because it is. However, lots of writers will resist developing their structural toolbox.

Their reasons for this may vary, but here’s the most common reasons I’ve bumped up against when working with writers …

• ‘My stories arrive in my head ‘fully formed”. Let’s be clear: NO ONE’s stories stay the same from the moment of conception through to completion. Not even veteran uber-writers like Stephen King’s.
• ‘Structure is ‘just’ a formula anyway.’ Actually, it’s a framework: ‘beginning-middle-end’. All stories need these three things, whether they’re linear or non-linear. It’s a framework we’re all familiar with since childhood. But we’re arguing semantics and this objection is, at its roots, redundant.
• ‘This is just overthinking / writing guru BS.’ It’s definitely true that writers can go down the rabbithole too much on any element related to the craft of writing. It’s also true there’s a whole industry dedicated to encouraging them to do this. That said, there’s always a middle ground. Understanding the many different ways structure can work, such as all the different plotting archetypes, can actually ENHANCE our writing.
• ‘The structure will change in the development process anyway.’ These writers are correct, it probably will. That said, if we don’t know where we are starting and why, then we are very likely to get lost in ‘development hell’. It’s like starting out for a particular destination with no map … you wouldn’t, would you?
• ‘This is what I’m paying script editors like YOU for!’ Some writers may say it’s ‘impossible’ to diagnose structural issues by themselves, so they need script editors like Bang2write to tell them where they’re going wrong. But here’s the kicker: even if I tell them how to fix their structure problems, they still can’t … Because if they don’t truly understand how structure works, then they’re flying blind.

I get it. Developing a structural toolbox is a LOT of work. But when writers are urged to ‘work on their craft’, this is what is meant. What’s more, no writer ever regretted knowing more about structure!

How To Develop Your Own Structural Toolbox

i) Read widely and make notes

Find out about all the different ways of looking at structure and plotting … there’s lots of them! Whether you’re writing novels or screenplays, you will discover there’s multiple ways of describing how that framework goes together.

Here are some books that B2W recommends most often:

• Poetics by Aristotle
• Writing Fiction: A User-Friendly Guide by James Essinger
• Into The Woods by John Yorke
• Constructing A Story by Yves Lavandier
• Save The Cat by Blake Snyder
• The Seven Basic Plots by Christopher Booker

Make plenty of notes, however you seem fit. You will notice in the course of these notes that you find some of the structural approaches very illuminating. Others will confirm what you already think.

There will also be approaches you feel are unnecessarily complicated, or you even vehemently disagree with. This is good!

ii) Decide how YOU see structure working

You will notice the books above focus on primarily screenwriting. This is because ‘screenwriting is structure’ (ie. it is plot-led). With this in mind then (and having read a LOT of writing craft books!), I believe screenwriting books to be the most useful sources of information on structure.

I also believe screenwriting and novel writing to be the same at foundation level in terms of actual storytelling … concept, structure, character. I call these the ‘B2W Holy Trinity’.

This means I approach writing my novels in exactly the same way as I write screenplays, or work with screenwriters on their scripts. I didn’t do this by accident. I worked on my craft, identified how I personally saw structure working and developed my structural toolbox accordingly.

iii) Understand the link

Lots of writers argue about whether character or structure is ‘more’ important. This is a pointless debate, because character and structure are a symbiotic relationship.

We don’t read or watch stories ‘about characters’ … We want to read or watch stories ‘about characters who DO something, for SOME REASON.’ 

By understanding how character and structure are linked, we can ensure every beat in our story reveals character and advances the plot.

iv) Use visuals, outlines, post-its, beat sheets & worksheets

Reading books about structure are a great start, but can be a bit dry. What’s more, theorising on the craft of writing does not always suit everyone. So here’s a few more ideas to add to your structural toolbox …

• Use visual representations to learn about structure. There’s countless diagrams, pictograms and drawings online to illustrate how structure and plotting works. For a collection of them to start you off, CLICK HERE.
• Always outline first. Whether we like outlining or not, facts are facts: outlining means you avoid structural problems. This is why the industry (particularly in TV) will insist on writers outlining first, but even novelists benefit from it. MORE HERE.
• Using Post-It Notes, index cards, whiteboards, beat Sheets. Writing out the ‘beats’ (aka important events/ moments) of your plot really helps you see whether your story is in the ‘right’ order. TV writers’ rooms often use post-it notes on the wall, index cards or white boards to do this. Physically moving these beats around can really aid your plotting, especially if you prefer to work in a more instinctive way. Alternatively, writing a beat sheet or set of bullet points may help.
• Use worksheets. ‘Drawing the story’ can really help, too. There’s lots of FREE worksheets online to do this. I created one for Bang2writers which you can grab too, HERE.

(Another story structure option: One Stop for Writers’ Story Map.)

v) Keep Learning!

The more you read and learn about structure, the more you realize everyone is more or less saying the same thing … just in different ways.  By appreciating this, we can develop our own vocabulary to describe how OUR writing works. We can also continuously add to our toolbox in terms of solutions for common structural issues.

This has the added bonus of helping us to protect our work when it’s in development with publishers, producers and others. After all, if we understand exactly WHY a structural rewrite will undermine our protagonist’s worldview and mission, we can avoid this and offer another solution instead. We then don’t end up in what B2W calls ‘The Story Swamp’ or the film industry calls ‘Development Hell’.

Good Luck!

LUCY V. HAY - Resident Writing Coach

Lucy V. Hay is a script editor, author and blogger who helps writers. She’s been the script editor and advisor on numerous UK features and shorts & has also been a script reader for 20 years, providing coverage for indie prodcos, investors, screen agencies, producers, directors and individual writers. She’s also an author, publishing as both LV Hay and Lizzie Fry.  Lizzie’s latest, a serial killer thriller titled The Good Mother is out now with Joffe Books, with her sixth thriller out in 2024. Lucy’s site at www.bang2write.com has appeared in Top 100 round-ups for Writer’s Digest & The Write Life, as well as a UK Blog Awards Finalist and Feedspot’s #1 Screenwriting blog in the UK (ninth in the world.). She is also the author of the bestselling non-fiction book, Writing & Selling Thriller Screenplays: From TV Pilot To Feature Film (Creative Essentials), which she updated for the streaming age for its tenth anniversary in 2023.

The post Why All Writers Need A Structural Toolbox appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

As we learn to write, we often hear about the need to create a strong pace in our story. Many seem to think that a strong pace requires a fast pace.

However, that’s not what’s meant by strong. So what is a story’s pace and why is it important?

Pacing is not the same as the speed that a story takes place, whether the plot covers days or years. (That said, a drawn-out time frame for a story can affect a reader’s sense of a story’s pace, especially if it feels like characters are waffling on taking action.)

Instead, the pace of a story is determined by how fast or slow events unfold in the storytelling. Stories are about change, and pacing is a measure of how quickly things seem to change from a reader’s perspective.

A too-slow pace can feel boring—no one wants to read 100 pages of nothing happening, nothing changing. But at the same time, a too-fast pace can feel hectic, be difficult for readers to follow, and prevent readers from connecting to characters or the story. So we need to find the right balance.

What’s the Right Pace for Our Story?

The “right” balance will be different for each story. There’s no formula we can rely on for creating the “perfect” mix for our story’s pace, such as writing 50% action, 40% dialogue, and 10% narrative.

The right pace for our story depends on several factors, including:

• our genre (thriller readers expect a faster pace than women’s fiction readers)
• our story’s voice (some voices are more chatty or terse than others)
• our story’s length (shorter stories often need a faster pace than novels, just to fit in the whole plot)
• our goals for reader connection to characters (more emotional connection requires delving more into a character’s introspection and emotional experience)
• our goals for reader experience (a fast thrill ride or deeper thoughts/emotional responses)

What Creates a Story’s Pace?

When we talk about pacing, we could be referring to several different writing or craft elements that affect pacing, including:

• Story Structure: Beat sheets can reveal whether plot turning points are happening at the right point to satisfy readers.
• Tension: Emotion, contrast, strong goals, conflict, foreshadowing, and even paragraph breaks can all increase tension, which affects pacing.
• Narrative Drive: The sense of forward movement in the story, working toward a satisfying ending.
• Obstacles: A sense of conflict—if meaningful and not random—creates tension, which increases a story’s pace.
• Goals and Stakes: Pacing drags if the stakes aren’t rising throughout the story, and stakes can’t exist without goals at risk.
• Infodumps: Dumping information from backstory, worldbuilding, or descriptions pulls down the pace of a scene.
• Narrative Elements: Too much of anything—action, dialogue, description, introspection, etc.—in a row can hurt pacing, so limit any one element to two or three paragraphs and then add something else to the mix.
• Sentence Structure: Long, complex sentences slow down a paragraph’s pace, and short, choppy sentences speed up a paragraph’s pace. There’s a time and place for both.

How to Create a Strong Pace?

Most pacing advice out there focuses on how to speed up or slow down our story’s pace, such as varying sentence and paragraph length, changing the mix of dialogue/action and descriptive paragraphs, using an appropriate level of detail, etc. All that is good to know, but doesn’t answer the question of how to create a stronger pace.

For a strong pace, ensure every aspect of our story has a purpose. We need to…

• focus on good story structure, so the narrative drive of our story’s beats all lead to a strong climax
• skip pointless scenes that don’t progress the story
• create characters with strong goals, to develop stakes and motivations for their actions
• avoid irrelevant information dumps or backstory
• use the plot to reveal our characters
• create appropriate conflict to drive the plot, establish tension, and push characters to confront their weaknesses
• develop a strong voice to earn reader’s trust that everything has a purpose
• avoid unnecessary repetition or giving redundant information
• use smooth transitions to carry readers along the story’s flow
• add hooks/story questions to maintain tension before switching to lower-stake subplot scenes

And finally, we need to…

• speed up and slow down the pace when appropriate for story events—any speed can become monotonous if it lacks variety

Storytelling is an emotional journey for readers, and good storytellers pay attention to the journey from their readers’ perspective. A strong pace carries readers along on that emotional journey, like an expert tour guide ensuring no one gets lost or bored along the way. *smile*

Do you have any questions or insights about strong pacing or how to find the right balance?

JAMI GOLD - Resident Writing Coach

Jami Gold put her talent for making up stuff to good use, such as by winning the 2015 National Readers’ Choice Award in Paranormal Romance for her novel Ironclad Devotion.

To help others reach their creative potential, she’s developed a massive collection of resources for writers. Explore her site to find worksheets—including the popular Romance Beat Sheet with 80,000+ downloads—workshops, and over 1000 posts on her blog about the craft, business, and life of writing. Her site has been named one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers by Writer’s Digest. Find out more about our RWC team here and connect with Jami below.

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I love me some Billy Joel. I especially love this song.

Granted, it’s a song that deals with a serious issue in a gentle way, but I do think that, on another, lighter level, it can also be applied to our writing journey.

You better believe there will be times in your life
When you’ll be feeling like a stumbling fool
So take it from me you’ll learn more from your accidents
Than anything that you could ever learn at school

The Second Act

How many of you struggle with the second act?

The second act of our stories is often called the Saggy Middle and tends to be the part of the writing process that authors struggle with the most.

But there are other types of second acts. Like the second act after you get an agent. Or the second act after you sign your first contract, or get your first deadline, or your first set of reviews—whether positive or negative. 

Or, more personally, a second act can be the period of time after divorce, after a loved one has passed, after the kids have left the house, or after a big move. And if you’re a writer (which if you’re reading this post, more than likely are!), then you’re also trying to figure out how to write a book during this second act.

To sum it up, the second act is the moment of time after a big, life-altering change. You can never return to the way things were in the first act. That’s done. And now, you’re left to wander in the forest, without guidance, doing your best to figure out your new plan or your new normal. 

The second act is hard. Most times, it’s the hardest period of time in writing our book or living our life. So how can you possibly fall in love with your second act?

It’s not always easy to be living in this world of pain
You’re gonna be crashing into stone walls again and again

You’re Only Human

Though you feel your heart break
You’re only human
You’re gonna have to deal with heartache
Just like a boxer in a title fight
You got to walk in that ring all alone
You’re not the only one who’s made mistakes
But they’re the only thing that you can truly call your own

Now’s the moment to take a deep breath and remind yourself that the second act is just that. It’s an act. It’s a fixed amount of time with a beginning and an end, though it can often feel, and be, twice as long as our first act. And no story is complete without a third act. There is more to come.

But how do you keep momentum through your second act? 

When you feel like your characters (or life) are rising up against you and calling out “Mutiny!”, how is it possible to love them and love the process? How could anyone love the pain of the second act??

Well, it’s tough. But here are some thoughts that could help if you’re struggling with your second act:

1. You’re only human. You are not invincible, and you are not supposed to be. Give yourself permission to rest, to take a break, and don’t beat yourself up over staying longer than you expected in the second act.
2. Your characters, to be relatable, must also struggle in the second act. They are human as well…or at least humanoid or have human-like qualities. Great characters have great hardships…and I guarantee they weren’t easy to write for the author.
3. This is the process. It’s not ‘part of the process.’ It IS the process. You cannot get from act one to act three without all the pieces of act two. There will be wins, but more losses, and just when you think it can’t get worse, it does. During this part of writing the book, you may feel like you’re stagnant, not going anywhere, or that your time would be better spent mindlessly binge-watching Netflix than staring at your computer screen.

But…

Don’t Forget Your Second Wind

Wait in that corner until that breeze blows in
You’ve been keeping to yourself these days
‘Cause you’re thinking everything’s gone wrong
Sometimes you just want to lay down and die
That emotion can be so strong
But hold on
Till that old second wind comes along

When you’re ready to move from the second act, you’ll know. There will be a new spark, or you’ll have done something new, something different to give yourself a fresh path. A second wind. 

Lately, I’ve been stuck in the second act writing-wise, and it took quite a few things to get my second wind a-blowin’. I tried everything. Even painting my toenails a different color (which doesn’t work, fyi). Here’s what I found to be most effective in getting a second wind for your story:

• Go for a mindful walk, focused on your story.
• Present a question about your story to your brain before going to sleep. Let your subconscious go to work.
• Change up your workspace. Try working outside, at a coffee shop, in your car (parked, of course), or at a friend’s house. Sometimes new ideas require a new environment.
• Throw in a nudist. See how they shake up your story. Sure you may not use the scene, but I guarantee you’ll get some new reactions from your characters.
• Brainstorm with a trusted friend or critique partner.
• Read. Read. Read.

Will it still be hard? YES! That’s life. And you’ve still got act three to hero your way through. But you’ve developed resilience in the second act. Your characters (and you) have been tried. Tried past the point of what you or they thought you could take, and you know what? You’re still here. Your characters are still here, fighting and ready to move forward. All of you, author and characters, are bruised and battered, but with a new, quiet, unshakeable confidence. You’ve been through the storm of the second act.

You’ve already won.

Cause All I Needed Was A Little Faith

So I could catch my breath and face the world again
Don’t forget your second wind
Sooner or later you’ll feel that momentum kick in
Don’t forget your second wind
Sooner or later you’ll feel that momentum kick in

Most times, the second act is the hardest because we start to lose faith in our stories and ourselves. Because it’s hard, because the words aren’t flowing, because we’d rather clean toilets than write, our natural answer is that the story must suck and, therefore, so must the author crazy enough to have thought this would be a decent story to write.

Holding on to our own faith in ourselves and our stories can be hard. Impossible at times. And that’s okay. But that’s also why a good critique partner is worth her weight in diamonds. She’ll encourage you when you think you stink and find a way to help you forward. 

So if you’re having a hard time latching onto your own faith, it’s okay to latch onto someone else’s faith in you for a little bit. We all need help in the second act, including our characters, but so many times, we wait to ask for help until it’s our last resort.

Fall in love with your second act. Love it like a mischievous kitten or a temper-tantrum toddler. Accept that it is the process.

You’re only human, after all. 

CHRISTINA DELAY - Resident Writing Coach

Christina Delay is an award-winning author of psychological suspense, as well as mythological-based fantasy written under the pen name Kris Faryn. A wanderer by heart, Christina’s latest adventure has led her and her family to the southwest of France. When not planning their next quest, Christina can be found writing in her garden, hosting writing retreats, sneaking in a nap, or convincing her patooties to call her Empress. If you love books about complex characters who never know when to quit, with a good bit of will-they or won’t-they tension, check out her books.

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Stories are about change. Our characters’ world is changing around them, or they’re changing internally—or both.

Yet at the same time, we know change is hard. In our own lives, we struggle to change our habits or take steps to be successful and reach our goals, whether that’s switching jobs, getting into shape, or whatever. In fact, we often resist more the closer we get to the possibility. Just because we know what we need to do doesn’t mean we follow through.

Real-Life vs. Fiction: What’s Realistic Change?

Despite the reality we all know about life, when it comes to storytelling, there’s usually a limit to how patient our readers will be with our characters not taking steps toward changing their situation, beliefs, or behaviors. That reader impatience is especially a risk if our characters suspect (or maybe even know) what “should” be changed before they’re ready or willing to act. Worse, if readers get too frustrated, they can stop rooting for our characters, thinking them too stupid or pathetic to do what needs to be done.

On the other hand, if that change were easy, why wouldn’t our characters have already reached their goals? Stories without resistance either need to be super-short or risk seeming unrealistic—and quite frankly, boring. Ask any romance novelist skilled with sexual tension about the value of anticipation for reader enjoyment. *grin*

In other words, we need to make change realistically difficult while avoiding the problem of wishy-washy characters. And that’s often easier said than done, especially when considering readers’ reactions.

Keeping Readers in Our Characters’ Corner

One key to keep readers cheering for our characters, even when they’re not taking steps toward change, is ensuring the obstacles in our story—internal and/or external—are as strong as possible. If readers believe our characters have “good” reasons for delaying, resisting, or only taking baby steps, they’ll stay on our characters’ side.

Of course, virtually any reason could be convincing with strong writing. However, we first need to be consciously aware of what’s stopping our character to ensure we’re fully developing those reasons on the page.

Using Plot Obstacles

Plot obstacles are typically easier to use for convincing readers, as the evidence that our characters’ have “good” reasons is right in front of readers’ eyes. For example:

• Plot Obstacles Interfere: Our character might be on the path toward change, but plot obstacles—such as needing to complete a different quest first—slow their progress.
  Our character desperately needs to pursue a promotion, but their father’s heart attack means they’re distracted by having to take on caretaking duty. (i.e., It’s not our character’s fault their progress is slow.)
• Plot Events Change Priorities: Despite what our character thought, recent plot events have triggered realizations or exposed the need for different priorities.
  Our character wanted a promotion, but their father’s heart attack makes them realize a focus on family is more important. (i.e., Our character’s goals change during the story, so they take steps only after they embrace the new goal).

Using Internal Obstacles

Internal obstacles are often trickier to use for convincing readers, as too much emphasis on their internal debate can make the character seem obsessed, indecisive, weak, etc. While characters hem and haw, readers are likely to want the characters to just get on with it, no matter how realistic that behavior is in real life.

To overcome that problem, we want to transform their internal reasons for avoiding change into tangible, external reasons as much as possible. For example:

• Emotions Hold Them Back: Our character’s too afraid, too resentful, too doubtful, too uncomfortable, etc. to change—which is expressed in words or behaviors with external plot consequences.
  Our character wants a promotion, but when they learn their competition is their “nemesis,” they angrily insult their coworker in front of the boss. (i.e., After the character self-sabotages, their goal is further out of reach.)
• Change Isn’t Needed: Our character believes they’re right or fine as they are and don’t need to change, or they believe it’s not their responsibility to change—which is expressed in words or behaviors that reject other options.
  When told they’d be eligible for a promotion if only they learned to meet deadlines, our character counters by stating their missed deadlines never caused issues. (i.e., They embrace the status quo and refuse other goals.)

Delay Makes the Eventual Change Sweeter

No matter what combination of reasons we use for our characters, the circumstances and rising stakes will eventually force even the most resistant character to attempt change. But before we get to that point, we first want to make change seem impossible.

The more we develop the obstacles preventing our character’s change, the more readers will believe success is out of reach. When the delays, debates, or resistance are finally overcome, the eventual change can be both emotionally satisfying and surprising. *smile*

Do you have any questions or insights about setting up obstacles to prevent our character’s change? And for more information on this topic, try this post.

JAMI GOLD - Resident Writing Coach

Jami Gold put her talent for making up stuff to good use, such as by winning the 2015 National Readers’ Choice Award in Paranormal Romance for her novel Ironclad Devotion.

To help others reach their creative potential, she’s developed a massive collection of resources for writers. Explore her site to find worksheets—including the popular Romance Beat Sheet with 80,000+ downloads—workshops, and over 1000 posts on her blog about the craft, business, and life of writing. Her site has been named one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers by Writer’s Digest. Find out more about our RWC team here and connect with Jami below.

The post Avoiding Change: What’s Stopping Our Characters? appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

When I get a new story idea, I fly into the start of it with as much gusto as a kid in a candy store. I’m filled with the buzz of ‘newness’ and the anticipation of where the story might take me. But 30 – 40,000 words in, the honeymoon is over. I hate my characters, my characters loathe me, we’re bickering worse than siblings, and my earlier projectile vomiting of words has ground to barely a hiccup.

I’ve hit the saggy middle.

What Is Saggy Middle?

There are lots of ways to recognize that your middle has gotten a little droopy. Some of the common indicators:

• A lack of tension or pace
• Your subplots are more interesting than your main plot (or you’re writing more about them than your main plot)
• There’s something wrong with a subplot
• A lack of action
• Huge information dumps or explanations

If you recognize one or more of these red flags in a particular scene and you’re beginning to suspect that it might need reworking, ask yourself some these questions: 

• Is this scene/chapter essential to the story?
• Does it push your character towards their goal?
• Does it add conflict?
• Does it reveal something important?

If the majority of your answers are no, then it’s time to trim the fat.

Getting Rid of the Saggy Middle

There are dozens of ways to handle this. Here are a few top tips.

Add a Mini-Climax. Your novel doesn’t have to have just one large climax at the end. You can tighten your novel’s middle by having a smaller climax (or climaxes) earlier on.

Conclude a Subplot. Having too many subplots can confuse the reader. If you’ve opened lots of threads in your first act, tie one or two of them up. This gives your reader closure and drives them towards the ending.

Open a Subplot. On the flip side, you could open up a new thread. This helps to create questions your reader wants answered and therefore pushes them through your story. It also helps with foreshadowing if the new threads will continue into your sequels.

Kill Someone. Pull a George R.R. Martin and kill off a few characters. It adds shock value and sets off a few fireworks in your character’s lives.

Add a New Character. Bringing fresh meat into your story always creates new tension because it puts established character relationships into a state of flux.

Add a Source of Conflict. This is my favorite method of de-sagging. Adding a source of conflict in the middle of your story will up the pace and tension and give your characters new things to focus on. It also creates action, mystery, and questions that your reader will want to have answered.

Types of Conflict

Generally speaking, there are three types of conflict you could add to your story:

Macro Conflict. This is large-scale conflict—world wars or society-against-the-hero type stuff. Stories with this kind of conflict often have two antagonists – the villainous character and a more intangible ‘societal’ villain. This type of conflict could cross states, history, natural forces, the law, races, and more. This happens in The Hunger Games, with the intangible Capitol being embodied by President Snow. For another example of this kind of conflict, check out The Day of The Triffids by John Wyndham.

Micro Conflict.This is a more interpersonal form of conflict, such as the battles the hero might have with other people and characters. Good examples include tiffs between lovers, friends, family, colleagues, and enemies.

In Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, the whole plot is a micro conflict. Will, the leading male, has a motorcycle accident that paralyzes him and leaves him wanting to end his life. But Lou comes into his life, falls in love with him, and tries to change his mind, and their desires come into direct conflict. 

Inner Conflict. This is the most acute type of conflict as it’s internal to the hero. It happens when the hero battles personal flaws, emotions, and values. Though it’s insular, it creates the most emotional conflict for the reader because they’re viewing the story through the hero’s eyes. If your hero hurts, so does your reader. 

Ned Stark from Game of Thronesis rife with inner conflict. He has to choose between two values—his loyalty or his wisdom—in order to save his life. In the same series, Theon Greyjoy is torn between his blood family and the adopted family that brought him up. 

No novel should have a saggy middle. While most authors naturally grow tired half way through a project (because, let’s face it, writing a novel is a marathon) there’s no reason for your plot to suffer. There’s a plethora of ways you can snip, trim, and tighten that sag. But if I were you, I’d torture your characters and add a little conflict. 

SACHA BLACK

Sacha is the author of the #1 bestseller for writers, 13 Steps To Evil – How To Craft A Superbad Villain. Her blog for writers, www.sachablack.co.uk, is home to regular writing, marketing and publishing advice sprinkled with dark humour and the occasional bad word. In addition to craft books, she writes YA fantasy. The first two books in her Eden East Novel: Keepers and Victor, are out now. You can find her manning the helm at The Rebel Author Podcast, and on social media:

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