I was listening to the song “The Middle” the other day, as one does when one is trying to get motivated.

Seriously, read the words:

Hey, don’t write yourself off yet
It’s only in your head, you feel left out
Or looked down on

Just try your best
Try everything you can
And don’t you worry what they tell themselves
When you’re away

Great advice. But that got me thinking about the middle, and more specifically, the middle of a book. I think I might be the only author who loves writing the middle of the book. In fact, knowing what happens at the mid-point is the one thing I absolutely have to know before I start writing.

So I thought I’d share my thoughts on writing the middle. As with any writing advice, this is not sacrosanct. This is not the one and only way. This is A way, and it works for me. It might be something else you can throw into your tool kit, or maybe it will help you think about something in a different way that will help.

For me, the mid-point of a novel is the point where the book shifts from what the reader thought was the story to the actual story. The true problem becomes clear, and the protagonist begins taking proactive action to solve that problem.

Sometimes you’ll hear people talk about a mid-point twist–and it can be that. But it doesn’t have to be a huge twist. It just has to be a change. In my novels, it’s often the point where we learn who the real enemy is. Up until the midpoint, we might think we know, but at that point we might learn what’s going on behind the scenes…what is really causing the problem.

With a good mid-point, you can often define the moment with a simple statement: “Everything changed when…”

Examples:

Everything changed when we learned that a member of our team was really working against us.

Everything changed when I realized that the person I was after was actually only a pawn.

Everything changed when we learned that the conspiracy went much deeper than we initially thought.

Those are some simple ones, and they’re pretty tied to my genre. I hesitate to try to apply it to other genres, since I don’t write other genres and I might mess up a trope. But you can try it yourself.

You might be asking yourself: Why does it matter? A twist can come anywhere. This is true. There are some great third act twists, and I’m not saying you can’t do that. These two things are not mutually exclusive.

The biggest thing I think you gain from a defined midpoint is pace. I’ve heard people talk about the saggy middle of a book. With a solid midpoint, you tend to avoid that, because in the point leading up to it, you’re building to that midpoint, which keeps the action moving. After, you’re into the rising action as the protagonist becomes more proactive.

For me, it also helps me structure the rest of the story around it. If I know I’m writing a 90,000 word book, I can break it in half in my head. And then I can break those halves in half again, so I’ve got 4 x 23,000 word quarters. 23,000 words to the first act climax, then 23,000 words to the midpoint. That’s the first half of my book.

There’s a mental benefit in that for me. 23,000 words is not nearly as intimidating as 90,000. I can do 23,000. That’s like 2 weeks work.

And that’s it. That’s all I’ve got to say about writing the middle of a book. It’s not really that much, but it’s something that really helps me think about structure. Hopefully it will help you a little too.

Tags: Writing craft