We’ve reached my final tip to fix a sagging middle—cut the boring bits!
In this video, I discuss the essentials of crafting engaging content, from avoiding purple prose to embracing the active voice with SVO sentence structure. I also reveal how to use adjectives and adverbs judiciously for impact, not just embellishment.
Hello, Jane Cleland here to talk about idea number eight, “cut the boring bits,” as a way of curing the saggy middle. I’ve been talking about what to do when the middle of your story or book sags. There’s been a series of these YouTube videos, everything from how to find out if you have a sagging middle, to what’s the difference between a sag and a leisurely pace, the idea of combining several of these ideas… and now I want to talk about number eight out of eight ideas. And that is to cut the boring bits.
Don’t fall in love with your language. Don’t engage in what’s called purple prose—these overly eloquent, flowery passages. Now, don’t do that. Keep sentences short. You want some cadence. There’s nothing wrong with an occasional long sentence. Try to have them organized in SVO: Subject, Verb, Object. This is going to ensure that you’re writing in the active voice. You want to avoid “to be” verbs, as they can lead to convoluted sentence structure.
Don’t use three words if one will do. Only use an adjective or an adverb if it changes the meaning of the noun or the verb. Don’t just use it for emphasis; find a stronger adjective or verb.
If you want to know more about this and all the ideas that I’ve been talking about, the webinar on the topic, “Plotting Perfection, How to Overcome Saggy Middles with Ever Escalating Conflict,” is available for rent on my website. And I’d love to hear your comments on the subject. How do you self-edit? How do you really speed up the pace, which is what we’re trying to do by cutting out the boring bits? Um, what are some tips you can share? Put them in the comment section; I’d love to hear it.
And if this YouTube video had value for you, would you like it? Would you share it? Would you subscribe to the channel? That opens up features that let us make these videos even more valuable for you. Thank you.
*Transcripts are software-generated. To report any transcription errors, please use my contact form!
