Writing the middle of a story should be exciting, right? By this point, you likely have a setting or two in place and at least the edges are starting to take color. Your characters have shape and desire and, when prompted with various issues, they likely have opinions. Most importantly, by the time you reach the middle of your adventure, you’ve established a problem that must be puzzled out by story’s end.

The pieces of a great story are in place!

And yet.

Middles are often where we begin to notice the cracks in our grand plan. The inconsistencies we haven’t thought through. The characters who aren’t serving a purpose. In short, it’s no mystery why so many manuscripts are abandoned at this stage.

The reasons to give up on a story that once excited you are many. What you have to decide now is whether or not you have the drive and the enthusiasm to make a course adjustment and keep moving forward.

I’m not talking about editing what you have, though this may apply if you’re in that place as well. But that’s not what we’re doing here with our #GrowAnAuthor series. We’re talking about finishing a story. We’re talking about growing as an author as we draft a book. We’re talking about getting you to those fancy words: The End.

So, let’s talk about what we need to do when a reason to give up slaps us hard in the face:

Diagnose the problem: When you go to the doctor, the first thing they ask is, “Where does it hurt?” This should be your question as well. What is bothering you about this story? When you avoid sitting down to write, what aspect of the story are you trying to dodge? Or, when you do settle in to write, what is it that has you frustrated?

Does the problem relate to a specific character?

Is there a scene that throws a wrench in everything?

Is your cast of characters too large to manage?

Are you struggling to capture the tone you’re aiming for?

Have you written yourself into a dead-end?

Maybe you have more than one issue to address. That’s perfectly okay. Writing a story is all about course adjustments. It’s about being brave and making decisions even if you’re not entirely sure where they’ll lead. Sometimes that means you have to back up a bit and try again.

But if you’ve run into any kind of deterrent to finishing, now is the time to pinpoint it and adjust.

Make a list of possible solutions: For the most part, I’m a big fan of plowing forward and just getting words on the page. But if you have a hole in the tire, you need to get the repair right or you’ll be stopping again to fix the same problem sooner or later. So instead of settling for the first possible solution that jumps out at you, use a writing session or two and make a list of ways you could address the problem.

If you have a writing partner, run your list by them. If you haven’t found a writing partner, run it by the teen writers in the Go Teen Writers Community Facebook group. Chew on your options, on the pros and cons, on the possible problems you’ll be creating for yourself with each solution before you commit to it wholeheartedly.

And then . . .

Make the change: BUT! Don’t you dare go back and edit anything. Instead do this: Make a note somewhere—maybe in your manuscript using the ‘Comments’ feature—that indicates a change has been made. Something like, “Bob isn’t the nice guy I’d originally written. He’s a traitor.” And then, move forward as if you’d already laid the foundation for this adjustment. Pretend that the problem you’ve diagnosed has been entirely magicked away and simply continue on with your tale.

I promise, you won’t have to leave your manuscript like this forever. You can go back and edit after you’ve finished the draft. But, we’re not polishing right now. We’re drafting. And it’s okay, right even, for your draft to be messy.

The only time I would endorse actually making a big change while drafting is if it involves cutting a scene. If you’ve written yourself into a corner and need to retrace your footsteps to the moment before it all fell apart, go ahead, cut that chunk. But don’t delete the snippet entirely. Story middles make us all crazy and we change our minds a lot. Cut and paste the problem section into a different document and keep it somewhere handy. Just in case.

Over the next few Fridays, we’re going to look at common problem areas that can derail a story. Problems that we often notice when we reach the middle of our first draft. We’ll talk about frequent pitfalls and look at possible solutions.

And today, I’d love to know if you’ve run into a problem that you need puzzled out before you can continue on? If there’s enough interest in one specific area, maybe we’ll tackle your problem in an upcoming post, so please share!