Recs this week
Listening: The God of the Woods by Liz Moore on Libro.fm. 30% into this audiobook and I am hooked on the slow building tension between the teen drama of a summer camp, the dysfunctional wealthy family that own it, two missing children, and an escaped serial killer. What a catnip combination for any mystery lover right?! Yes, and it’s more than an addictive mystery. The writing is moody and well observed and the multiple POVs add to the emotional depth and literary feel of the novel. One small note: the audiobook is well narrated but the story is long (14.5 hours/496 pages) and moves backwards and forwards in time, so I think it might be easier to follow on paper where seeing the dates and names would help me keep track. Still, highly recommend.
Watching: Slave Play by Jeremy O. Harris at the Nöel Coward Theatre in London. I can see how this play isn’t for everyone- it’s very sexually explicit and tackles racism, sex, trauma, love (any third rail topic, Harris dives straight for it) but it left me teary and shaking because it was so good on so many levels. For me, truly a transcendent experience of acting, writing, staging. Everything. It is smart, funny, nuanced, complicated, so well thought through. Embarrassing, awkward, unexpected. The kind of art that makes me proud to be a human and in awe of what we can create. I’m not entirely sure what it all means either, which I love.
Random: Pet stamp. Self-explanatory really. A custom stamp of your pet’s face. Completely useless, yes; completely necessary, also yes.
Watching: Castle on Disney. It’s one of my comfort watches along with Gilmore Girls (the ultimate fantasy world for book lovers) and Modern Family (so happy, so sunny). I love a buddy comedy and if you can combine that with detective cases and a million seasons of ‘will they, won’t they’ and I’m thrilled. Bonus: Nathan Fillion’s eyebrow raise.
Random: Heinz Pickle Ketchup. Again, not for everyone. If you love pickles with your burger though, then this is great. It immediately gives anything you pair it with that McDonald’s burger tang. I hope they keep making it forever.
Now, let’s save your novel’s mushy middle!
I want to share a quick tip with you that I picked up this week from a WFWA webinar* with Jessica Brody abut that Act 2 ‘mushy middle’ or what Save the Cat! Write a Novel calls the ‘Fun & Games’ beat.
Even quicker aside: I will write about something other than Save the Cat! methodology, I promise. I’ve just re-read it and it’s rattling around my head right now, is all.
Back to the monologue…
One of the longest and least structured parts of your story is probably going to be that middle section (aka Act 2) where things have changed significantly for your protagonist BUT now you need to show them actively going after the wrong thing, jumping through hoops, getting their hopes up, falling on their face. Even if you know your protagonist inside out and you know the start and end of your story, choosing what happens in this middle section is hard.
This is also often the part where your story can lose momentum, pace and the reader’s attention. Because, not only do you have to invent various interesting and believable plot points for your protagonist, you also have to make your reader believe that your protagonist’s ill-advised, ill-fated pursuit is going to work OR make your reader compulsively read between their fingers as your protagonist heads for disaster.
Jessica Brody’s tip, which has stuck with me, is to give your protagonist an external goal during this middle ‘Fun & Games’ section. Think of this section of your story as protagonist goes after X goal. Bonus points if the goal raises the stakes for your protagonist.
EXAMPLES!
In The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, the ‘Fun & Games’ middle section is the long section telling Evelyn’s backstory: from her poor childhood through her many marriages to sleeping with her great love Celia St. James. Evelyn’s external goal here is economic stability (prosperity?) through marriage. Evelyn raises the stakes herself each time she gets married because she keeps looking for more prosperity and true love, finding it devastatingly in her female friend Celia.
In Book Lovers by Emily Henry, the ‘Fun & Games’ middle section is the equivalent to the ‘getting to know each other’ montage in a rom-com movie. The protagonist Nora and her love interest grumpy Charlie navigate a chain of tongue in cheek small town activities that bring them closer together. Nora’s goal is very literal here- she wants to complete a sort-of-bucket-list of activities that her sister has given her to help her relax and fix their sibling relationship.
SHARE YOUR EXAMPLES! Tell me your examples in the comments below, if you’d like…
In romance novels, the middle section is often devoted to the love interests getting to know each other, in a detective novel it’s often devoted to the nitty gritty of the investigation. You know what those sections need in theory, but it can still be difficult knowing what exactly to fill them with, which is why giving your protagonist a concrete goal- complete this checklist, make this much money, follow this clue- can be a helpful guide through your no-longer-mushy middle.
* I can highly recommend joining WFWA if for no other reason than it gives you access to their archive of great writing webinars!