Avoid the “Saggy Middle”
Keeping the reader engaged in your story
No attribution required
Awhile ago, I had the good fortune of hosting a webinar with a few editors from a popular publishing house who gave their advice and fielded questions from novice writers. I asked them what were some common writing mistakes they saw authors make in submissions and how to avoid them.
As you can probably guess, the number one issue most editors face when reading submitted manuscripts is a boring story. But what makes your story — that brilliant, original, fantastic, game-changing idea — so uninteresting? More often than not, it’s a lack of conflict.
With submission guidelines usually requesting the first two to three chapters, editors are often faced with extremely polished first sections of a book. And, of course, this makes sense. You need to catch an editor (or agent’s) eye and a great deal of time is spent on making those first three chapters the best possible. But what many writers fail to consider is making every chapter as compelling and engaging as the first; every first word of every chapter as much of a hook as the first word of their entire book.
What editors frequently see, after requesting a full manuscript, is an engaging hook and a rise in conflict within the first few pages and then… it all falls off from there. “The Saggy Middle” is a thing to be aware of as you tackle your manuscript. Keep your tension and conflict taut and present throughout, without making the chapters are scenarios your characters go through episodic.
At the end of the day, this comes down to properly fleshing out a solid outline or at least tackling a second or third draft with this key bit of advice in mind. What is the conflict that will constantly keep your characters engaged with the plot, encountering the twists and turns that make for a compelling story? Figure this out first, and the book tends to write itself by constantly asking “what next” as its author.
It’s a reminder to think of your book as a whole, especially when you’re only submitting those first few chapters.
