by DiAnn Mills, @diannmills
Our story takes off like a race car. Writers step on the gas, excited about the journey and where they will take the reader. Then somewhere in the middle, our story stalls. The engine dies, and we’re at a loss how to continue.
In short, we’ve hit the intersection called “bored.” The writer must create fresh means of showing details the reader will never forget.
The following 7 plot-additives will guide the writer through the plotting process to avoid the sagging middle and keep the story racing to the finish line.
- Compose Difficult Choices: Instead of giving a character a right or wrong choice, develop situations that force him/her to choose between two rights—or two wrongs. The character must face the consequences for the decision.
- Create a Crucible: A crucible forces opposing characters to work together because neither will give up something valuable that is shared between them. It’s a mental, spiritual, professional, or physical setting that creates a bond more important than individual desires. A crucible calls for patience and endurance, which means the character(s) must change and grow to survive.
Three examples of a crucible:
- A married couple lives an unfulfilled relationship and refuses to divorce because of their children. The children mean more than a loveless marriage.
- Two people who despise each other must work together on a project. They have no choice, and their commitment to the mission statement of the company means more than personality or goal differences.
- Sol Stein states all the people in a lifeboat are in a crucible.
- Construct a Facade: A facade is a front, show, or pretense that masks what is true or real—until the truth is revealed. A character believes something is authentic and projects that to the reader. The reader has no reason to doubt the character. As the story climaxes, the character learns he/she has been deceived; the information was unreliable. The character must respond. This brings a new dimension into the resolution. Remember the movie Sixth Sense? How long did we watch it before we “got” it?
- Craft High Stakes: A reader doesn’t care about a story unless the stakes are high and the plot is unpredictable. Don’t protect the character. (He or she isn’t real.) One way to ensure mounting stress, conflict, and tension in every scene, is to ask the following 4 plotting questions before writing each scene.
- What is the character’s goal or problem to solve? Why is it important?
- What does the character learn that he/she didn’t know before?
- What backstory is revealed? Avoid this plot-additive for the first approximately 50 pages.
- How are the stakes raised?
- Continue with What is the Worst Possible Scenario: One of the ways to add power to a sagging middle and turn the story into full-speed-ahead is to pose the worst possible thing that could happen to the character. But don’t stop there. Keep gunning the engine until an unexpected scenario spins the character into a no-turning-back zone.
- Consider Point of View (POV): Is this character the best choice for POV in the scene or story? A scene or story must be written from the viewpoint character who has the most to lose and will be present at the climax.
Each time a writer changes POV, the reader is forced to make an adjustment. The fewer times the reader is jarred out of the story, the better. Use only as many POV characters needed to tell the story.
- Cast a Wrench in the Middle: Readers are smart. They consume a story to the first intersection, then believe they know the ending. Many will flip pages until the climax and close the book. But if in the middle of the story, a writer tosses a wrench, an event that changes the character and the stakes, the reader will hang on to every word.
A writer can give in to the story’s engine dying a cruel death or add plot-additives sure to keep the reader’s attention from the first page to the last.
As an Arab Christian pilot for a relief organization, Paul Farid feels called to bring supplies to his war-torn countrymen in southern Sudan. But with constant attacks from Khartoum’s Islamic government, the villagers have plenty of reasons to distrust Paul, and he wonders if the risks he’s taking are really worth his mission.
American doctor Larson Kerr started working with the Sudanese people out of a sense of duty and has grown to love them all, especially Rachel, her young assistant. But despite the years she’s spent caring for them, her life feels unfulfilled. It’s a void that both Paul and Rachel’s older brother, Colonel Ben Alier of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army, notice.
When Rachel is abducted, Paul, Ben, and Larson agree to set aside their differences to form an unlikely alliance and execute a daring rescue. Their faith and beliefs tested; each must find the strength to walk the path God has laid before them, to find their way home.
DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She weaves memorable characters with unpredictable plots to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels. DiAnn believes every breath of life is someone’s story, so why not capture those moments and create a thrilling adventure?
Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests.
DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. She is the director of the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference, Mountainside Marketing Retreat, and the Mountainside Novelist Retreat with social media specialist Edie Melson where she continues her passion of helping other writers be successful. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country.
DiAnn has been termed a coffee snob and roasts her own coffee beans. She’s an avid reader, loves to cook, and believes her grandchildren are the smartest kids in the universe. She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas.
DiAnn is very active online and would love to connect with readers on: Facebook, Twitter, or any of the social media platforms listed at diannmills.com