Getting through the slump

[Handra]

So, as I'm writing, I found that I have a lot of excitement and steam for the first few chapters, but then between that and the climax, it's like I hit a dead zone...nothing sounds good, everything I write is rubbish, and I more or less abandon attempt. It's terrible and disillusioning. If anyone has gotten through it or is currently trying to, any advice??

 

[Hex]

I just read up on the middley-bit (the stuff that happens between the exciting first few chapters and the climax) and it does seem to be the hardest thing to write.

So, the middle bit (act 2, I think it might be called?) is sometimes described as being about rising tension and a series of challenges all leading on to bigger ones until you get to the final biggy, the climax.

Unless you have a clear idea of what those challenges are, it can be easy (and maybe disastrous) to see that whole section as the bit where you get between the set up and climax -- e.g. by traveling for CHAPTERS and CHAPTERS through a marsh, accompanied by a wise peasant and goblin-thing that wants your precious.

I find it helps to be a bit artificial about the middley bit and have a series of tasks that have to be completed to achieve something that might or might not lead directly to the climactic challenge in the story, otherwise my middle goes all saggy and while I did have an excellent and restful Christmas, I'd prefer to be more toned.

Does that make any sense at all? Would it help if you thought of the middle as a series of mini-stories all leading toward the climax?

Also, if nothing works (a) keep going -- first drafts are always rubbish, OR (b) stop -- if it seems rubbish you don't know where you're going and it would help you to plan. Only you can know which of these it is, and what kind of writer you are.

I suspect that's less than helpful, but I enjoyed writing it and not doing the bit of middle planning I sat down intending to do...

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I draft the middle-y bits and hope they'll make sense later. And, sadly, I sometimes have to slog to get to the end of the draft and make sense. I think we all want writing to be a joy and flow from us but I've never got to end of any book I didn't want to throw out the window at around the 25k mark. So, perhaps, accept it as part of the process, grit your teeth and hope it'll be easier once you know your story better?

I'm doing the second draft of my current wip and the first one was hideous at one point - this time it's fun and a joy ( and nowhere near as bad as I thought at the time )

 

[alchemist]

Similar issue recently, but don't panic. In terms of pacing, no book can or should be BANG BANG all the time. The story needs downtime, as long as the plot is moving, or we're learning about characters, or something else is happening. The writing can be intersting for reasons other than excitement; maybe there's humour, or interesting world-building/exploration, or character-building.

So look at it with different eyes. The important question to ask of any scene is: is this scene is necessary? If not, cut it. If it is, ask what it's purpose is, and take it from there.

 

[Abernovo]

Keep writing. First drafts are crap, full of mistakes, typos, bad writing, unfinished ideas. One thing I would say is take breaks. Get up, walk around the room or down the road, do another half hour. If you like the incentive of pushing yourself, there's the Chrons Word Counter.

Some people will edit as they go; others edit at the end. Some plan it out, some don't. It doesn't matter - you can try all options, to find out what works best for you. Finish the story, but know that most of us hit the same 'everything I write is rubbish' moment at some point. Don't give up.

Good luck, and welcome to the Chrons.

 

[Juliana]

I get that when I reach the middle. Not because I don't know what's happening next (I'm an over-planner) but because its when I start thinking 'this is all a load of rubbish.'

In my case, I leave things for a week or two while I work on other stuff or just take a break from writing. Then I go back and re-read it all from the beginning. That's often enough to get my excitement back and realize what I wrote before isn't as bad as I thought.

Of course, thats not to say it isn't rubbish, but the spark is back by then.

Ha! Just saw that Aber and I wrote much of the same...

 

[SciFrac]

Time away is good, helps clear your anxieties. I just discovered a new tip that has helped tremendously: When you're stuck on where to go next, brainstorm 10 possibilities. Make at least 10, because often times the 10th or even 11th idea is pretty damn interesting. And if you like several ideas, combine them all.

 

[Handra]

I just read up on the middley-bit (the stuff that happens between the exciting first few chapters and the climax) and it does seem to be the hardest thing to write.

So, the middle bit (act 2, I think it might be called?) is sometimes described as being about rising tension and a series of challenges all leading on to bigger ones until you get to the final biggy, the climax.

Unless you have a clear idea of what those challenges are, it can be easy (and maybe disastrous) to see that whole section as the bit where you get between the set up and climax -- e.g. by traveling for CHAPTERS and CHAPTERS through a marsh, accompanied by a wise peasant and goblin-thing that wants your precious.

I find it helps to be a bit artificial about the middley bit and have a series of tasks that have to be completed to achieve something that might or might not lead directly to the climactic challenge in the story, otherwise my middle goes all saggy and while I did have an excellent and restful Christmas, I'd prefer to be more toned.

Does that make any sense at all? Would it help if you thought of the middle as a series of mini-stories all leading toward the climax?

Also, if nothing works (a) keep going -- first drafts are always rubbish, OR (b) stop -- if it seems rubbish you don't know where you're going and it would help you to plan. Only you can know which of these it is, and what kind of writer you are.

I suspect that's less than helpful, but I enjoyed writing it and not doing the bit of middle planning I sat down intending to do...

Actually, I have been trying the mini stories thing. It kind of works...until it doesn't. I'm planning a 34 chapter book and the part between 11 and 15 has been torture. I'm just like wtf am I writing? This is complete garbage, go back to your real boring job. I love the story am I writing, I'm desperately in love with it, but it's like an abusive relationship sometimes. When the excitement and the thrills very quickly turn into a nightmarish hell that you can neither leave nor remain in.

Similar issue recently, but don't panic. In terms of pacing, no book can or should be BANG BANG all the time. The story needs downtime, as long as the plot is moving, or we're learning about characters, or something else is happening. The writing can be intersting for reasons other than excitement; maybe there's humour, or interesting world-building/exploration, or character-building.

So look at it with different eyes. The important question to ask of any scene is: is this scene is necessary? If not, cut it. If it is, ask what it's purpose is, and take it from there.

This is part of the problem I'm running into: I don't know how to ask myself: is this scene necessary. Because as I'm building the universe in my head, everything, every bit of it, seems absolutely necessary. I look at the scenes and think well, of course I can't cut A here because it explains B later which ties in to C, which is then necessary for D to take place.

It's terrible!

In my case, I leave things for a week or two while I work on other stuff or just take a break from writing. Then I go back and re-read it all from the beginning. That's often enough to get my excitement back and realize what I wrote before isn't as bad as I thought.

Of course, thats not to say it isn't rubbish, but the spark is back by then.

For me, I'm kind of afraid to take a break. I take short breaks to read stuff, watch tv, work, school, but not week long breaks where I don't touch the story because if I do, I'm terrified I won't come back.

 

[SciFrac]

Can you identify the problem in that section? Not enough tension, purpose, humor, or voice? What feels off?

I usially feel bored reading too much world building with not enough conflict or high stakes.

 

[Boneman]

Too much planning? You say you're planning a 34 chapter book, and 11-15 are awful? Simple, scrap chapters 11-15, and see what comes to you as you progress - maybe it will be a 24 chapter book, or maybe the creative part of you will get a whole bunch of new ideas along the way, and it ends up a 44 chapter book. As eveyrone says: finish the book, come back and edit and rewrite any number of times later. Agonising over it as you go will only depress/upset you, and that will definitely hamper the rest of ther book. Don't look back, only forward.

I never have any idea of how many chapters my books will be, not a jot. I have files full of 'whatifs' where the ideas mugged me and kicked me to literal death, then revived me when I put them in order. I know where it starts and I know where it ends and I have a pretty good idea of the middle, but it's no sweat if the middle changes, because I know I'm going to need rewrites - nobody in the history of writing ever produced a perfect 1st draft. (I'm looking at you, Mark Lawrence...)

 

[sknox]

Yes, the middle is a horrible swamp. Jim Butcher has an excellent article on it. Calls it the Great Swampy Middle, or some such. Getting the whole story down in some respectable form is *hard*. The only way to get through it is to just get through it.

Those people who claim they love to write should be shown this thread. And a thousand others just like it.

 

[tinkerdan]

I would guess that a lot depends on how you are stuck where you are.

By that I mean do you have the whole plan and this was part of the plan and you have to pass through this to get to that.

If possible skip to that and come back later you might have a better idea what needs to happen in this. If it's imperative to get a completely straight to get from a to b then there could be a problem. I usually find it to work the other way. I'll go from a to b and discover a need for a.a to be inserted for some reason or another for what happens in b.

And as mentioned if this is a first draft then you may be sweating bullets for nothing. You just need to get down on paper and go back and make it interesting.

An interesting exercise might be to write said blasé chapter and then look back on it and try to treat it like its the first chapter and the first line is what needs to hook the reader and see if you can come up with a great first line and build from there. If you can't get a great first line you might want to scrap it and redo.

It doesn't really need to be great it just has to seem that way to you. Although it would be nice if it felt that way to the reader too.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Don't look back, only forward.

I have to disagree. Sometimes you do need to look back. Not always, but sometimes when you can't go forward you need to go back* and see if you made a mistake somewhere, something faulty in the logic, which your subconscious mind is screaming at you to stop and fix before you go off on the wrong track entirely. Or even many little mistakes that are beginning to pile up so that their combined weight is pulling you down.

I admit that it's not good to get obsessive about every little thing** and never go forward at all, but I have found going back very effective on occasion.


_____
*How far back? As far as you need to go.

** I've done a lot of that, too.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

My advice: re-read a couple of earlier chapters - you'll have forgotten some character or plot detail from which more plot/character can be extrapolated.

One of my characters wrote to somebody, and I forgot he hadn't yet replied. That kind of thing.

 

[Laeraneth]

I've definitely had this problem before. I've got half a dozen unfinished things, some from over a decade ago now, that got to varying lengths between 10k and 40k before they sort of petered out and then I was just sat there saying, "well.... now what?"
They all had a plot stretching out ahead of me and an 'endgame', for lack of a better term, but the path to get there felt lifeless and drab. And if I thought it was drab, I can only imagine how dull it would have been for a reader

I think it's only now in the last year or two that I've finally realised that my problem (it's probably different for everyone) was that I was writing a about events, rather than about characters living through those events.

(Saying that, in the last two months I've made little headway now I'm right at the end... but that's a whole different problem )

 

[Stephen Palmer]

ie confusion of describing plot with plot.

 

[Handra]

I would guess that a lot depends on how you are stuck where you are.

By that I mean do you have the whole plan and this was part of the plan and you have to pass through this to get to that.

If possible skip to that and come back later you might have a better idea what needs to happen in this. If it's imperative to get a completely straight to get from a to b then there could be a problem. I usually find it to work the other way. I'll go from a to b and discover a need for a.a to be inserted for some reason or another for what happens in b.

And as mentioned if this is a first draft then you may be sweating bullets for nothing. You just need to get down on paper and go back and make it interesting.

An interesting exercise might be to write said blasé chapter and then look back on it and try to treat it like its the first chapter and the first line is what needs to hook the reader and see if you can come up with a great first line and build from there. If you can't get a great first line you might want to scrap it and redo.

It doesn't really need to be great it just has to seem that way to you. Although it would be nice if it felt that way to the reader too.

I'll try the blase chapter, but I'm so ridiculously anal, I'll end up loathing myself even more. I'm one of those people who has to get it right the very first time.

I have to disagree. Sometimes you do need to look back. Not always, but sometimes when you can't go forward you need to go back* and see if you made a mistake somewhere, something faulty in the logic, which your subconscious mind is screaming at you to stop and fix before you go off on the wrong track entirely. Or even many little mistakes that are beginning to pile up so that their combined weight is pulling you down.

I admit that it's not good to get obsessive about every little thing** and never go forward at all, but I have found going back very effective on occasion.


_____
*How far back? As far as you need to go.

** I've done a lot of that, too.

I completely agree. I think you always need to look back. Granted, I end up doing exactly what you're saying and getting obsessive but really, going back is highly effective for me.

My advice: re-read a couple of earlier chapters - you'll have forgotten some character or plot detail from which more plot/character can be extrapolated.

One of my characters wrote to somebody, and I forgot he hadn't yet replied. That kind of thing.

I've already tied those ends up though -- like I said, I'm super anal. I want each chapter to build on the previous ones without being a repetition of them.

I've definitely had this problem before. I've got half a dozen unfinished things, some from over a decade ago now, that got to varying lengths between 10k and 40k before they sort of petered out and then I was just sat there saying, "well.... now what?"
They all had a plot stretching out ahead of me and an 'endgame', for lack of a better term, but the path to get there felt lifeless and drab. And if I thought it was drab, I can only imagine how dull it would have been for a reader

I think it's only now in the last year or two that I've finally realised that my problem (it's probably different for everyone) was that I was writing a about events, rather than about characters living through those events.

(Saying that, in the last two months I've made little headway now I'm right at the end... but that's a whole different problem )

Ahhhhhh!!!! See that's what I'm afraid of! Ten years from now, looking back at this 30K manuscript that just petered out because I took a break for too long. I love this story and I want to finish it this yearr!!

 

[sknox]

The only thing you can do wrong is not write. Not write is not right. Everything else is personal experience, and I'm afraid all you can do is stumble forward.

That is to say, you are in a slump. Maybe taking a break works for you, maybe it doesn't. Maybe writing something else works for you, maybe it doesn't. Maybe just writing any old thing -- backstory, character interviews, etc. -- works for you, maybe it doesn't.

There's no way in the world (this one or any other) to know except you try. Yes, that virtually guarantees wasted motion, unless you are lucky enough to hit on the right approach the first time. If you do, good on you and I shall call you several unflattering, jealous names, but I'll still be happy for you.

But, and it cannot be said too often nor in too many ways: just write. Don't stop writing. Some folks even literally type out passages from favorite books. Anything to keep the brain in the writing mode.

Also, and this is strictly personal opinion, I think it's unfortunate when people say they are This or they are That. Why box yourself in? You say you must get it right the very first time, but let me assure you: you cannot. The best you can do is get it as right as you can, but your beta reader or your editor or your agent will come along and say you must get righter. So, go ahead and fuss, if you must, but don't fool yourself into thinking it is "right."

In short, you may be burdening yourself unnecessarily and to no good purpose. Sometimes insisting you get it "right" is a way of avoiding finishing only to find out it is "wrong". Be brave! We're *all* wrong!

 

[MattC]

Handra, you're not alone. The middle of the story is one of the trickiest things to negotiate. I don't know of any writer who doesn't have issues with a middle of a novel, though why this isn't always the case with a novella or a short story, I really don't know - after all we're are talking stories and if you look at the shorter forms as microcosms of novels, then the same should apply, shouldn't it? A lot of writers I've spoken to or read about, who dabble more in the short form, don't have this problem. Maybe size really does matter.

So ask yourself this: are you planning too many words? If your plot doesn't merit the length of the book you've been planning, you'll run out of steam because you don't have the plot-diesel to get up that hill. Ask yourself whether the story would be better written as a novella, or more suitable as a short story. After all, many books are better when the journey is the most interesting part rather than the destination (and that really applies to the middle section), so if the journey doesn't look good compared to the destination, then you might need to work the story into a shorter form.

If that doesn't work and you are still wedded to a longer book, well writers have different ways of coping with this "swampy" bit of the book, as you've seen above. One bit of advice I've heard that's not a bad one, is that the middle-part is what subplots are made for. Going for an interesting subplot can always carry on the momentum of a book, even if the ending is not reliant on the subplot (Stephen King is a master of subplots, though be warned, a subplot running out of control can seriously bloat a book). Subplots can also be temporary, to re-engage the writer and keep the interest going for the final lap to your destination, and you can always cut a subplot from the final draft if it makes the book too bloated. Whatever keeps the pages turning, right?

Ultimately, the rule I apply these days to any writing, whether it's the beginning, middle or end, is that if I'm personally not engaging with the story, then my readers won't. Anything I can do to keep myself writing, will hopefully keep the reader reading, IMHO.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I think that's really good advice, Matt. We can get far too focused on length. My first drafts are mostly novella length, or very slightly more. To wade through anymore without the sense of shape I get from knowing the whole story arc and character arc would be hideous. I fill out after - if I need to (which I always do, my drafts are skeletal.) rather than saying
I'm going to finish a novel, instead say I'm going to finish the story - you can fill out details later if you want.

And, also, what SK said - you won't get to the end of the draft without needing to change something. Sure, if you have it tidy and tight-ish, there'll be less to do, but I've never had a book finished that didn"t lose scenes, or change them, generally after I ask Alc's questions, which I find most useful to do at the end of the first draft.