Writing Excuses3 Sep 2023

18.36: The Soggy Middle Pays the Rent (or, "Stand Alone With Series Potential")

How do you write the middle of a book? How do you end your book? How do you know what to write next? This week, our hosts —who all work as a writers and publishers (and are sometimes teachers and puppeteers and many other things)— talk through how they have written the middle of their books.

The middle is where most of the story takes place. How do you keep track of your characters and plot? How do you bring it toward an end, and stick the landing? Well, we’ve got some ideas. And some advice to help you write the middle of your novel. Or short story. Or play. Or really… anything.

Homework:

Identify the point of the middle where you are delaying because you feel like your character needs to "earn" the cool thing. Where can you cut and where can you turn it into an escalation?

Also! Make sure to catch up on Schlock Mercenary if you haven’t already. Our next 3 episodes will dive into the details, and include some spoilers.

Thing of the Week:

The October Daye Series by Seanan McGuire

Liner Notes:

Mass Effect 2

Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

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