The Ooey Gooey Middle

by Stephanie Nickel, CES Editor, Writer, Coach, and Critique Specialist

Last week we talked about beginning a novel. This week, we’ll take our inspiration from the classic cookie, the Oreo (though, I admit, I prefer Pirate cookies with the peanut butter middle). For good measure, let’s imagine the double stuffed variety.

Beginnings are important. Authors have to grab their readers’ attention and give them a reason not to re-shelve the book and pick up another. I like to refer to it as “grabbing the reader by the throat.”

Endings are equally important (and we’ll talk more about them next week). They have to be cathartic/emotionally purging. They must be plausible but not predictable. Endings have to satisfy and yet surprise, definitely not an easy task.

So, beginnings and endings are like the cookies on either side of the ooey gooey middle.

Middles are hard to write. They often bog down authors. You want to keep the excitement going that grabbed the reader in the first place. You also want to propel them toward your well-crafted ending. But just how can you do that?

Like the cookie, you want the middle of your story to be something people savor. You don’t want them to hurry past it to get to something they value more. There aren’t too many people who eat the cookies and discard the filling. You want readers to enjoy the middle of your story—no matter how badly they want to get to the end.

Here are some do’s and don’ts for writing satisfying middles plus some prompts. (This is by no means an exhaustive list. Entire books have been written on the subject.)

Don’t use the middle of your book as a place for flashbacks and info dumping. The flashback to provide readers with the characters’ backstory is no longer commonplace—if it ever was. Info dumping is all wrapped up with breaking the “show don’t tell” rule.

Do reveal necessary history and information through action and dialogue. If it propels the story forward, it may very well be needed. If it halts the action or is added merely to help meet your word count, it should go.

Related Prompt

Write an info dump, a couple of paragraphs where there is no action, just facts.

Now, share that same information through compelling dialogue while your characters are “on the move.” Better, no?

Don’t wander down those bunny trails. It can be a fun, but you’ll end up with a lot of loose ends to tie up and a lot of information your readers don’t need. You never want them asking, “Why on earth did the author include that?”

Do create a rudimentary roadmap from your beginning to your ending. Any stop along the way that deviates too much from the main roads without a good reason should be deleted—or saved for another story.

Related Prompt

Create a visual roadmap for your story. List the main components of your beginning and how you plan to wrap things up at the end. Now, plan for some stops on the journey. (Don’t confuse these as elements that will halt the action—and/or the reader—but rather, springboards to the next stop.)

Don’t be afraid of “wasting time.” It’s hard to delete large portions of your story that took hours to write. However, it can be like getting stuck in the mud if you’re not willing to do so. The more we try to go forward, the more impossible the situation becomes. Sometimes, we have to put it into reverse, back up, and avoid that part of the road all together. (I know I’m mixing my metaphors, but the cookie just doesn’t seem to apply here.)

Do take a deep breath, highlight the offending section, and . . . No! You might not want to delete it, but you can copy and paste it into a different file. It could become the idea for a totally new story. Give yourself permission to write—even those sections that you may end up deleting. Sometimes it’s the best way to find out what will and what won’t work—and that is not a waste of time.

Related Prompt

If you have a basic story outline, choose a stop along the way and write. Just write. Exercise those creative muscles, knowing even if you don’t use what you write, you will learn from it and maybe even come across a great idea you didn’t have before.

What do you think makes a delicious middle?

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