Episode 115: Midpoints
These notes include affiliate links.
In honor of NaNoWriMo, this month Fable and the Verbivore are talking about beginnings, middles, and endings.
Today, we're talking about the midpoint of a story. Middles can be hard to write - keeping the story momentum moving forward and maintaining reader attention as you build to your ending can be a challenge.
In our conversation, we talk about possible ways to think about this middle section and some ideas for how to keep the story growing and changing - and how to avoid it falling into a slump or dragging. We touch on several ways to change up the tempo of the story and include some examples of midpoints from books and film. Here are a few:
The False Victory - A momentary victory that is achieved at great cost. Example: The Hunger Games
The False Defeat - An attempt to reach the goal that fails spectacularly, but lessons are learned which help identify an alternate path. Example: The Martian
A Major Event Happens - A game, ball, celebration, battle, or [insert other major event here] occurs, which promises to be important. It does end up being significant, but often in unexpected ways and spins the story off in a new direction. Example: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
A Shift in Context - An assumed truth is revealed to be wrong or the antagonist shifts from the person we thought to someone else. Example: Coraline
Character Midpoint Collision - The conflict between who a character has been and who they’re attempting to become comes to a head. They take a leap forward, try out their strength, and discover a new skill or strategy. Example: Collateral
We hope you enjoy this episode! Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!
Into the woods,
Fable & The Verbivore
Notes:
In case you’re unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo, here is some information: https://nanowrimo.org/what-is-nanowrimo
Both Fable and the Verbivore mention that there’s a variety of ways to approach writing the middle of a story. Here are some articles that we found helpful in preparation for this conversation:
“Collateral — The Midpoint Collision by Lessons” From the Screenplay
“How to Use a Midpoint” by Tyler Mowery
“The Midpoint | The Craft of…” by Macabre Storytelling
The Write Practice “The Secret to Writing the Middle of a Story”
Save the Cat “Cracking the Midpoint: The False Victory”
Story Grid “the Power of Three”
Anne Rallen “The Biggest Writing Craft Issue New Novelists Face, and 7 Ways to Avoid It.”
The Writing Kylie “A Seven Point Story Structure Case Study of The Hunger Games”
Books & Movies Mentioned:
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
The Shadow and Bone Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo
The Matrix: Directed by The Wachowski’s
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Martian: Directed by Ridley Scott
Collateral: Directed by Michael Mann
Music from: https://filmmusic.io
’Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)