Momentum
There’s always that moment in writing a piece, when I’m stuck. I know where the story’s been. I have a sense of where I want it to go. But somehow, I can’t get past that middle.
I’ve stalled.
I blame it on the story arc. You know, a story is supposed to build, reach a climax, and end. But it’s more than that, of course. There are multiple episodes where the tension gathers and reaches a peak, followed by a moment of calm to let the reader breathe.
That’s when I stall.
It’s because I’ve reached a new beginning. I have to climb that mountain again, build that tension, reach a new resolution for the story. And the energy I have to gather to start climbing that mountain is much greater than once I’m on my way uphill.
I guess it’s momentum.
When I was in school, I had my teachers’ expectations pushing me past the stalled beginning. And when I have a deadline, there’s that editor, waiting, that focuses my mind. But in the middle of a book, with no external expectations or demands on its completion, I can get lost.
The trick is, of course, not to give up. “Butt in chair,” Jane Yolen says. Do the work, even if the ideas aren’t coming to you, and eventually they will arrive. It’s building that momentum, taking that running start, gathering the forces necessary to get past the stall.
Man it’s hard.
Tags: Bauer on writing story arc
July 1st, 2009 at 4:34 pm
The middle of a book is the hardest part for me to write too, even in picture books. I’ll have a big idea, a good set-up, and a sense of where it will end. “In my head” the whole thing is great… but then I sit down, and well, getting it to work on paper isn’t always so easy. Moving readers from that beginning to end, making sure they will want to turn every page, building & maintaining tension - aahh! I know what needs to be done! But you are right, “butt in chair” is the only way it’s gonna happen.
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:47 am
As a compulsive outliner, I can say it doesn’t matter if you’ve thought the book through chapter by scene by key dialogue - the middle is a slog. I’m writing my new novel (about the Exxon Valdez oil spill) deliberately without plan so I’ll be able to compare the dreaded mid-book slump of a plunger to that of a plotter.
Debbie - I am surprised that picturebooks have a similar ‘reduced speed zone’ mid-project. Hmmmm.