Ever found yourself grappling with a sluggish second act? Betraying your protagonist might be the perfect way to get your story moving again!
It’s a potent technique inspired by the piercing words of Arthur Miller and grounded in lessons from my own mother’s advice on trust.
Betrayal doesn’t just throb with emotional resonance. It provides a piercing opportunity for deep character exploration and advancing the plot.
Hello, Jane Cleland here. What do I do to fix my saggy middle? Now, there’s been a series of these little YouTube shorties talking about how you identify if you have a saggy middle, that dragging section in the center of the story or book, and how you can mix and match these ideas. Broadly, consider what pace you’re going for before you decide if, in fact, you have something that’s sagging.
Here’s the second idea on what to do, and that is to betray your character. You know, Arthur Miller, the playwright, said, “Betrayal is the only truth that sticks.” Oh, betrayal. It hurts. And it allows you, the author, to use their internal reflection, their reaction to this betrayal, to really share information about the character and what they are going to do about it moving forward in this really horrific situation.
You know, one way to think about this is to consider what my mother once taught me: “Be careful who you trust. No one else can get close enough to do much damage.” Whoa, consider that, right? Betrayal.
Now, if you want to know more about this, the webinar on this topic, “Plotting Perfection, Overcoming Saggy Middles with Ever Escalating Conflict,” is available for rent on my website. And there is a series of these little YouTube shorties that will also give you a broad overview on the topic.
And if you liked this one, please like it, share it. Would you subscribe to the channel? That opens up features that let these videos become even more valuable for you. And don’t forget comments. I would love to hear what you think. What kind of betrayals really speak to you, or have you written about? I’d love to know. Thank you.
*Transcripts are software-generated. To report any transcription errors, please use my contact form!
