Curse of the Sagging Middle

The writer’s curse is a sagging middle
by Barbara Edwards

Not your stomach. It’s the middle of your manuscript dragging into oblivion. Classic advice says ‘kill someone’. A dead body injects life. I’ve killed a few characters. Then found a reason why. Who is the ‘real killer’? Can’t have a fake killer, can we? Red herrings abound. Threads weave another layer to the plot.
Or it is a murder the death of the story?
At one RWA conference an editor stated she hated to find a dead body at midpoint in a comedy. I rewrote that one and found the story went no-where. Its still waiting under my bed for inspiration to strike.
An extra dead body is a clue that your story isn’t alive. Every action must have a cause. Tossing a corpse off the roof might not do anything but make the editor toss your book.
Back to my middle. I’m a by-the-seat-of-my-pants writer. I learn my characters as I go. I plot day by day. I’m constantly surprise by what happens. A murder? Sometimes an earthquake, a riot, a hurricane or a love scene fits better.
Be creative. It’s your job.

I hope you find my book Ancient Awakening keeps the story moving.

Ancient Awakening by Barbara Edwards

Finding Rhodes End Book One

Blurb: Police Officer Melanie Petersen is the only one who believes a suspicious death is murder. By disobeying direct orders from the Rhodes End Chief, she risks her career to follow clues that twist in circles to her backyard and lead the killer to her. Her neighbor Stephan Zoriak is a prime suspect. While working for a major pharmaceutical company, he is exposed to a dangerous organism that changed him. He suspects he is the killer and agrees to help Mel find the truth when the deaths continue. In the course of their investigation Mel and Steve find more death and continued distrust that make them wonder if love can defy death.

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http://www.barbaraedwards.net/
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