Hello, Jane K. Cleland here! In my third video about tackling those saggy middles of your manuscript, we’re talking about the power of a change in setting.
It may seem simple, but transporting your characters to a new location can revitalize your plot, setting your characters adrift in uncharted social terrain or embroiling them in harrowing scenarios that invigorate your story. It’s a tactic I’ve found works wonders!
Hello, Jane Cleland here, talking about saggy middles. I have eight ideas for you about what to do if you find your story is dragging in the center. This can be very challenging, because it has to be organic to the plot.
Now, other YouTube shorties have talked about how to tell if you have that dragging section, and to encourage you to think about combining these eight ideas. I do have eight tactics. So here we are with number three, which is to change the setting. If you think things are dragging, get them out of town to a place that’s unfamiliar.
This lends itself to perhaps isolation, and really make it bad for them. Get them lost. Let them find themselves in a bad, dangerous section of town, or in a very highfalutin section of town where everybody thinks they’re one of them, but they’re a fish out of water. This setting idea is so powerful. It lends itself to really reinvigorating the plot.
What do you think? Have you ever done that? Have you changed settings to good effect? I’d love to hear about it. Do make some comments about it. I’d love to hear how it worked for you.
And if you’d like to know more about this, the webinar on the topic, “Plotting Perfection: Overcoming Saggy Middles with Ever-Escalating Conflict,” is available for rent on my website.
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