I often hear writers say that they have a good beginning and a good end to their short story but no idea how to ‘do the middle‘. It may sound simple but the answer is write one sentence then ask yourself what consequences arise from it and keep going.
The middle allows you to develop the plot, create tension, allow the development of layers of the story, let the characters grow. It’s not padding, it has work to do.
Middles should be as long or as short as needed, not overwritten or underwritten; unless you are given a set target, let the story dictate the length. We set a top limit of 2000 words for the Global Short Story Competition but many writers go for much less because that is all that the story requires.
Resist the temptation to pack too much intro your middle - concentrate on one story, perhaps just one or two main characters. Introduce too much, too many characters, sub-plots etc and you may end up doing it all badly.
It may help to write in episodes (like short chapters) to keep the pace going and allow the story to build to the ending.
Still loads of time to enter this month’s competition at www.inscribemedia.co.uk
John Dean
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