1. Check your Hero and Heroine's Goals and Motivations. Again I refer you to Deb Dixon's Goal, Motivation, Conflict as a resource. It is amazing! GET THAT BOOK if you can. It's an Ebook too.
So have you answered the questions of:
Who is your hero?
What do they want?
Why do they want it?
What is in thier way?
That is my verson of what I try an answer. You MUST know your characters and your plot. Who are they and what is going to happen? GO back to your outline for a quick look to see if you get it. Becasue if you don't get it, the readers will not either. You may know the goal but you may need to up how your character is reacting to the conflict placed in the way...and a hint: DO NOT LET YOUR CHARACTER GET EVERYTHING EASILY. It might help to list on your outline all the steps the hero may need to take in order to reach the goals he or she wants. If your character doesn't know what he or she wants and it has not been spelled out clearly then remember the charcter himself needs to know. if he doesn't then the reader won't either. You are the author---you should have spelled this out clearly. So make notes on what you need to fix.
To avoid a saggy middle the charcter needs to have a lot of things standing in the way and a lot of hoops to jump through. Conflict and Suspense make the story. Without struggles the saggy middle can be boring so up the stakes! I call it add a nest of hornets. If your hero just has to climb the mountain, that's good but what if you toss in a next of hornets he disturbs or a mountain lion or a tornado. UP those stakes! ALso take time to think about the hero's internal conflict, not just what he is facing externally. WHat is happening in the hero's head? What is he thinking of his conflict? Spell out that story in his thoughts. WHat motivations make him or her want to overcome this giant problem of a conflict. ALl the whys could be spelled out now.
Sometimes giving your hero a flaw adds to this. He has to get through the jungle oh but he has a terrible fear or snakes and is allergic to poison ivey. If your hero thinks he has made it, then toss in the hornets. But as a reminder if you toss in a million things then this can drag down the saggy middle too and make the reader bore, wanting to get to a resolution. Sometimes conflict and tension can be lost when too much is added so it is a fine line. Some day three obstacles are enough but it will depend on what your heros is trying to accomplish.
It might help to look at your outline....what is the ultimate ending? Remind yourself of the steps it will take to get there. I panster so mine is never set as my characters change things for me most of the time. But the general ending is usually there. Think about how the ending will change your character. Your hero should not be the same person at the end of the book that he was in the beginning. This story should change him.
Can your hero run into the biggest problem in a little way---the biggest conflict in the middle of the story as a hint of what he or she will face? Maybe have a bad guy encounter in the saggy middle to remind readers what the hero will be facing and how it is gonna be hard to jumpo that hurdle. The conflict needs to show up now and then. Maybe its the saggy middle where the hero bails and thinks he can not do what he wanted? Maybe he thinks he cannot win? This can help you grow the character later.
It a hard work throught he middle of your novel without letting the stakes seem minimal. SO give that hero or heroine a real struggle with who they are, where they are going and why. And toss in the hornets and move that story ahead.
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