2021 Writer’s Digest Virtual Novel Writing Conference

“The Maddening Middle”

Many writers find it relatively easy to develop detailed beginnings for their story, and detailed endings—but they struggle with the middle portion of the novel. Beginnings are exciting because of the “blank page” effect—you have total freedom to invent characters and plot elements, build worlds, and imagine clever twists. Endings can be exciting because you get to write the big climactic encounters and pay off twists you set up in the beginning.  The middle, though, is often just a huge question mark. How do you get from the exciting setup to the exciting ending? We’ll discuss how to come up with B through Y when you have A and Z figured out.