 Drama: December 30, 2009 Issue [#3440] |
  Drama
This week: Edited by: Joy  
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"Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on."
John Steinbeck
"There’s still a strange moment with every book when I move from the position of writer to the position of reader and I suddenly see my words with the eyes of the cold public. It gives me a terrible sense of exposure, as if I’d gotten sunburned."
Eudora Welty
"A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it."
William Styron
Hello, I am Joy , this week's drama editor. In this issue, we are going to talk about the drama of writing the mid-section of a novel.
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Welcome to the Drama newsletter
Classic form, defined first by Aristotle in Poetics, consists of three parts: the beginning, the middle and the end. The middle is the place where most of us, at best, feel inconvenienced.
In actual practice, we start writing our novels with all the drama, since in the beginning, we feel wide-eyed and bushy-tailed because we have come up with everything; everything that is the setting, the characters, and the main points of the plot. Then, we reach somewhere in the middle of our plots, and our empty pages or empty computer screens call to us, but we have nothing worthwhile to type, unless we have a highly detailed outline.
It takes a very organized writer, however, to make such a detailed outline, and most of us, aside being not too organized, seek the adventure in writing. If you are like me, you may even leave your endings to the will of your characters. You may want them to lead you to an exciting or at least a negotiable ending.
Even if you have an inkling of the ending for your story, the middle may stump you. Judging from our NaNo work, I saw some of us getting stuck somewhere between 10,000 to 30,000 words, which in a 50,000 word novel is the beginning of the middle. I, too, got stuck in the beginning of the middle of my NaNo novel, exactly at 13,415 words. So I sent my characters, especially the two opposites together, on a short cruise where the story more or less reads like a travelogue. I plan to take out the unnecessary parts of the travelogue when I revise, but the events that happened there made my characters reconsider each other, and it solved my dilemma with the blank screen by making up for a few more episodes that tied up the middle of the novel to its ending.
 One way to end the mid-novel blues is to go back to the characters and ask: What are the hidden or untold traits in these characters that may add to the story? When you have an answer to that question, you can then plan an episode or two based on those traits. This may take you all the way to the end.
If not, another way is to get your main character in a deeper trouble that may or may not be related to the main conflict. For example, your main character, inside his head, mulls over the main conflict while driving and gets into a traffic accident. Then other related complications occur as the result of his lapse of attention due to his main conflict worries. Thus, even if the trouble is unrelated to the conflict or the main plot, you may come up with ways to tie it to them and to the ending. In short, for the sake of tension, be cruel to your protagonist especially in the middle of the novel.
Then, a third way is to develop the subplots and insert the main character in them; that is, subplots that involve secondary characters who have a significant influence on the conflict, the protagonist, or the story arc.
Other functional ways to get you out of a rut are:
Send your characters on a trip, to the zoo, to a rock concert, to the Antarctic, or wherever you wish, and let the events of the trip lead you to more scenes and episodes.
Give someone related to or is an ally of the main character a few problems, or better yet, give the villain some new powers.
Go back to the last chapter where you got stuck and end it with something dramatic. Either have your character hit rock bottom or make him believe he has found the way to victory. This may lead to another chapter and several related episodes for the middle that will enrich the conflict and link the middle part to the ending. In short, think of your central plot as an octopus with many arms. Well, eight if you wish, but make sure the tentacles are shown in detail to the readers.
The idea is not to get stuck and stop in the middle of a novel, but to continue on with the thought that, during the revision process, what is unrelated will be removed anyhow.
Have a happy, healthy, and successful 2010, and best wishes with writing and revising your novels!
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Here are a few examples of middle chapters from the novels of our WdC writers:
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"The first thing I noticed was the endless desert, and then I noticed the clean cab of the truck—it was just too clean, like it was brand new. If the time was correct on the console then it was late in the afternoon. I assumed it was still Monday."
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"Invalid Item" "He couldn’t deny the fear in her eyes at his simple statement. “Some flowers were stomped down, and it looked like someone tried to open a window, don’t worry, it wasn’t broken. I think Sophie stopped them.”
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"Invalid Item" "The new King held a tournament for all the nobles to compete against one another to prove their worth. Creighton arrived at court ready for battle. Ready to win. He walked through the main door and stopped dead in his tracks."
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"Blood of the Garlic" [18+] by Kåre เลียม Enga  "If you are patient you can witness the erosion of mountains, hear the lament of rocks crack and tumble, feel the rough edges wear off as they are tossed by flood waters, wash up on shores as smooth polished stones. Czeszniak held a basket of river rocks as he spke."
"NaNo17 Nov4 631words (nb56) Wisdom of stones [166.255]"
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"Scene 11: Picnic for Two
The sun shone directly over head, though it was not hot, as cool breeze blew across the hill. Sitting in the shade of the Alltune tree, Adeena gazed out the countryside before her. The city at the bottom of the hill was bustling with activity as was the long stretch of farmland beyond it. In the distance she saw more hills and a mountain range."
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Articles:
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
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Your Drama Newsletter Editors: PartyBee  esprit  Adriana Noir Joy
Thank you for reading our newsletters and for supplying the editors with feedback and encouragement.
This Issue’s Tip:
To increase the conflict in each scene, insert tension even in between the characters of the same side. For example, you might consider showing a difference of opinion or action among the protagonist and his staunchest allies.
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dejavu_BIG computerprobs
I was wondering if you could give me any tips on how to have a character come to reach self-acceptance of themselves in a situation where they have a mystical gift they've hated/feared all thier life ?
Off the top of my head, give them a powerful experience in which they see the value of the gift, like that gift saving their life, finding the most important thing they have lost, or saving someone they really care about.
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Adriana Noir
What a great and comprehensive checklist! I'm going to bookmark it for future reference. Wonderful job. Synopsis and query letters, those three words strike fear into the very heart of me! I'd take NaNo over writing those any day! 
Thanks, Adriana. 
I'm 100% with you on the business side of things, but then, they are such an integral part of what we do. 
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aszreal
Great newsletter I love writing, but dread revising...which may be why I have three novels all done in their first draft form and not final. Your bullet points give a good guideline for fixing that, though. Thanks.
Thank you, Ariana.
I can't say I blame you. Revision is very hard on me, too, but it's the most important part of writing, whether we like it or not.
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Angelica Weatherby-Happy 2025 
Hmmm... edit... isn't editing the most boring thing to do? Great newsletter by the way.
Thanks, Angelica Weatherby-Happy 2025
Editing is not only boring but also very difficult to do. it is difficult to be objective about our own creations, to cut and reshape what we have so diligently put together earlier. But revision and copy-editing are absolutely necessary parts of writing.
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