Hello, writerly friends! November has come to an end and so are our tips on soggy middles in your novel! Below is a roundup of all our tips.

Tip 1: Increase that tension! Sometimes the middle gets soggy when the tension’s either stagnated or decreased.

Tip 2: Give your main character or characters a big obstacle to overcome. It could even be a death! They need to struggle to make the eventual ending that much stronger.

Tip 3: Consider concluding a character arc or mystery (obviously not the main one). Give your reader some kind of payout for their sticking with the story and making them want to read even more.

Tip 4: Change up character relationships—get them dating, get them breaking up, have a big fight! This will shake things up for the reader too.

Tip 5: Bring on the big twist! Throw in something unexpected (that still fits within the realm of your story).

Tip 6: Change up where we are location-wise. Whether it’s a move, a trip somewhere, anything that gets us to a new place than where we’ve primarily been in the first half.

Tip 7: Look for any unnecessary scenes that are clogging up your story and slowing down the middle. Get that scalpel and start slicing out what’s not needed—make your story lean and mean, so to speak.

Tip 8: Have a mini or false climax of your story—this could be a clash between your protagonist and antagonist!

Tip 9: You may need to step away and look through your story—it might be time for a plan, revisit your outline, or make one now. After that, return to your story with a renewed plan to move forward.

Thanks for joining us for tips on “Soggy Middles,” we hope you found them helpful and hope to see you next month for more tips.