I know I’m not unique here, but I always find writing the middle of a novel to be the hardest. Last weekend, I managed about 2500 new words.
Today, I managed 1320 new words on my project, called The Playground. Today was all about my victim character, and she had to participate in a murder. So far, she’s really heading down the drain, and that’s her job in the story.
My thug anti-hero is way ahead of the good guys in wrapping his project up, and the good guys don’t even know he exists – yet. If he succeeds, it’s going to be absolute world changing mayhem, but he doesn’t know that – yet.
I think my marker posts are all ahead of me, and I simply have to write between them.
There are 5280 feet in one mile. Therefore; I wrote about a quarter of a mile on my novel today; 1320 words. It isn’t a great volume, but that’s how the middle always works out for me. I’m off tomorrow, and may get another quarter mile on paper. The heroine needs a chapter next.
I’m facing a point of view decision real soon. None of the main characters have ever met, and when they do, I’ll have to choose the viewpoint character for those sections. I can put that off untild they return to the pseudo St. Louis area.
My other problem is also a frequent issue. The total word count is 43,065. I’d like to double that, so I may have to raise the body count when everyone gets to NOLA. Darn it.
Entertaining Stories 
Hang in there! You’re writing and that’s awesome! Keep it up!
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Oh I will. Middles are always like this.
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I usually have a few moments were I get hung-up in the middle, too. Starting is always easy…new project, excitement, etc.
The ending brings a different kind of excitement, seeing all of the plot threads wrap up, knowing the conclusion is in sight. But the middle is all about staying the course and trudging through. Hope you get some quality writing time today. I have a rare day off as well, and am ready to tackle my WIP in a few. I’m actually near the end, and should wrap it today.
Then, of course, the edits begin!
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That’s me to a tee. I managed about eight pages so far, and stopped for coffee and comments. I’ll probably get back to it in a bit.
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Hi! You’re doing just fine. There’s no set number of words you need to write. The fact that you’re writing is great. Keep going! 😀
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I get that, thanks. I managed a measly 900 words today. I’m used to it by now. 3500 word days to get started, the occasional 5000 word day as it ends, but the middle is always this way.
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I don’t understand your POV issue. Are you using a generic narrator now, or are you alternating POVs and don’t know who should take the lead? BTW, upping the body count is always a good thing. 😀
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I’m always playing with something new. I have three main characters who have never met, ala Pulp Fiction. When they do meet, I have to decide who tells the story at that time.
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Awesome work, my friend! Remember, slow and steady wins the race. 🙂 When I hit stall-points like that, I try to remember Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind. (Keep in mind I never actually read this nor even saw the movie or had a desire to… But her personal story interests me…) Apparently she kept getting stuck at the beginning! So she wrote the rest of the book, then wrote Chapter One last. Sometimes, that’s the way life rolls. 🙂
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I own the movie and book. The movie is awesome, the book is even better.
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It doesn’t interest me, but it’s my sister’s favorite book… The two columns with 8 point font make my eyes bleed!
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The advice I heard from Mary Robinette Kowal is to pick the character in the most pain for your POV. I also clipped this from a blog post of hers: “For each scene decide which character has the most at stake, that’s the POV of the scene.” It still might be hard to choose with three strong POVs in the story.
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That helps me settle it. Only two meet, but the one has to be the choice.
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