Greetings, Wizard Writers!
We’ve all been there: You’re reading a riveting book with an action-packed plot, when suddenly, you hit the middle and both the writing and the action fall off. If you’re like me and like to give a novel a star-rating on Amazon or Goodreads, you might start off thinking you have a 4 or 5-star book, only to change it to a 3 once you hit the center of the novel. Thankfully, most of the time the action picks up by the climax and the end, but struggling through the lackluster middle of a book is tedious. Especially when the book is well-written overall or has an interesting and unique plot.
“Middle Sag” is defined as the point in a novel, about 25-75% of the way in (between the inciting incident and the climax), where the action falls off and the pages are just unexciting filler. As writers, we obviously want to avoid middle sag in storytelling, but sometimes during the writing process we have an inkling that the story is spiraling off into a boring stretch somewhere mid-manuscript. If this happens to you—don’t panic! It’s terrific that you were able to spot the sag before the publishing process. And thankfully, there are easy ways to rectify the situation.
Below, please find 7 ways to avoid middle sag in storytelling. I hope these tips help you in the initial writing phase and also when your manuscript is in the revision stage.
1. Block Goals
Are things coming too easily for your protagonist and characters? Are problems immediately solved without repercussions or follow-up problems? If so, think about how to “break the other leg” and keep conditions horrid for them. Say NO to the characters repeatedly, holding back what they so desperately desire. This will keep the reader guessing and keep up their interest in your plot and characters.
2. Raise the Stakes
Are the stakes high enough to keep the reader intrigued at the midway point? If the stakes are not high enough, consider planting seeds to introduce future dilemmas, adding new problems, or upping the amount of conflict in the story. Write on conflict, always, and make sure the characters are at risk of losing something valuable to them.
3. Vary the Internal and External Conflicts
Once you introduce your inciting incident, action should rise from there, leading up to the climax (the highest point in the story). Your protagonist and/or characters will go through the motions throughout this period of time, including internal, emotional conflict and external, physical conflict. Vary these conflicts and keep both in constant motion—what are the characters feeling inside? What outside forces are acting upon them?
4. Add Escalating Tension
Is there fighting between characters? A central argument? A push and pull between good and bad? Romantic tension? Are the characters running from a murderer? Are supernatural forces hindering their quest? Is a natural or medical disaster ruining their lives? If none of these options apply to the mid-point of your manuscript, consider this: What’s the worst thing that can happen here? Make sure to think on that and add it in if you can for good tension. Write on drama.
5. Analyze Other Books
Where does middle sag start to appear in other books? Why does it happen? What books have you read that have no middle sag at all? What strategies did the author use to avoid the sag? Picking this out in other books will help you spot the issue in your own writing. Better yet, it will teach you how to work toward a finished product that will keep your reader engrossed for the duration.
6. Add Controversial/Sensitive Content
If you’re writing in a genre where this would be appropriate, consider adding sex, violence, or other types of sensitive content to wake the reader up. However!—ask yourself what your character would really do. In other words, make sure if you go down this path, it will shock the reader but still be in line with your character’s root personality.
7. Add Emotion
Adding emotional appeal is a terrific way to keep the reader invested in a story. The higher the emotion and drama, the more feeling you will draw out of the reader, and the more they care, the more they will want to keep reading. Weave in emotional backstory here and there, making sure you don’t go on and on with the background of each character. Consider a short but emotional story from a character’s childhood—what traumatic event made them the person they are now? How does this impact the plot and move the story forward?
In the comments, let us know other ways you can think of to avoid middle sag, and also, let us know any books you’ve read that you feel have middle sag or do not have middle sag. Why do you think the book suffered from this horrible ailment? Or how do you think the author avoided middle sag?
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