Over the past few weeks, I have been working on a new resource to support romance authors who, like me, can struggle with the Sagging Middle of the writing kind!
You know that sinking feeling when your romance starts with a bang, your characters are starting to come alive, but by Chapter 15, your plot drags, and you’re not even sure what happens next? You have written yourself into a corner and are trying to fill it with aimless and boring fluffy scenes.
That’s a sagging middle.
Why the Midpoint of any Romance Novel Matters
The middle chapters of any romance novel should be the pivotal scenes of any romance novel.
Why? Because you promised your reader that you would take them on a roller-coaster ride, following your two main characters as they meet and fall in love despite all kinds of internal and external challenges and limiting beliefs.
And that all comes together at the Midpoint of the story. This is the pivot point of the entire falling-in-love sequence of scenes.
The reader should be fully engaged with these characters and want them to show how much they care about one another.
The midpoint is where all of that emotional tension is released, and something fundamental happens. In most cases, this is when the two characters have to make a fundamental decision: Do they commit to this relationship, or not?
To maintain that page-turning adrenaline rush, you can use story craft and structure to keep the pace and emotional intensity of the romance journey high, creating a solid emotional roadmap for your unique story that eliminates the dreaded saggy middle.
What do I mean by Romance Story Structure?
I like to use the 4-Act Classical Story Structure to plot my romance novels. Some of you may have heard this called the 3-Act Screenplay structure. It is the same thing, with the big Act 2 broken into Acts 2 and Act 3.
Here is how it works.
Your romance plot is broken down into Four Acts, or Stages, with Nine Major Turning Points, which are Story Events that propel the story ahead. The number of scenes and chapters will depend on the word count of your book, but the same four-act plot outline applies whether you are writing a novella or an epic saga.
The key to avoiding a sagging middle is building external and emotional conflict throughout Acts One and Two as these two people fall in love.
Act One. Show the hero and heroine in their ordinary life, with the limiting beliefs they have created to protect themselves.
When they meet, there should be some mutual attraction despite resistance. This will depend on your trope and romance subgenre, but give the readers some hope that these two people can find love together.
Then something happens to upset their ordinary worlds. This is the turning point of the Inciting Incident.
They are forced to make a decision that locks them together. This commitment is the end of Act One and the start of the romance journey.
Act Two. This is the falling in love stage!
Show how the hero and heroine start to see that their lives can be different – if they let go of their old beliefs. The couple builds an emotional connection, sees one another in a new light, and recognises attraction and awareness, leading to a pivotal midpoint event.
Imagine you are filming a trailer for your story- most of the clips would come from these scenes.
The readers have paid their hard-earned cash to vicariously fall in love alongside the two characters. Act Two is the point when the love story really begins, and the excitement and thrill of falling in love challenge both characters.
The stakes increase, and many romances have a pinch point in the middle of Act Two where something happens that moves their relationship forward, only to knock it back immediately. Back on that emotional roller coaster again! Don’t make this relationship too easy.
The Midpoint of No Return. Commitment to the relationship.
The end of Stage Two is at about the halfway point through the novel. This is also known as the Midpoint of No Return. They cannot go back from this point, and nothing will be the same as before.
This could be a sexual, close, intimate, or personal moment, but it must be a fundamental shift in their relationship that changes the entire direction of the story. They are forced to decide whether to commit to this relationship.
Suddenly, life becomes more complicated. Secondary characters can start meddling in their lives, just as they are trying to make a connection.
Everything is different and it is scary.
They get a glimpse that they may be able to overcome that self-defeating behaviour, thanks to the developing romantic relationship and plot events.
Why would falling in love with this particular person be a threat to their controlling beliefs, which are their protection against pain?
Why would it be the best thing that could happen to them, or the worst?
This is a significant shift in the external plot and the relationship, binding the hero and heroine in a powerful way.
Banish Sagging Middles by leveraging the power of romance story structure to build up the scenes of Act Two to a thrilling high point in the middle of the romance where everything about their relationship changes.
These scenes should be the most fun to write because this stage of the romance journey is so pivotal to the entire narrative.
If you would like to learn more about The Unbreakable Romance Plot Planner Package I am developing, you can join the Wait List HERE > https://subscribepage.io/q8U4wr