So the first round of revision is pretty much done for Act 1 scenes. So the first 75 pages have a better shape than they did originally with the draft. But I’m sure once I go through this whole novel for this revision round, there will plenty to go back and revise.

So, here I am in the middle. The infamous middle part of the novel. This is what has given me the most trouble. I’m still stumbling upon what exactly to do to get to the end. It’s all about how my characters will react to what happened in the first 75 pages, but also getting ready to start the foundation of what’s going to happen in the last 75 pages.

Sigh.

I’m going to do my best to keep at it but I have a feeling that the middle will be a little harder than I thought.

What makes a good middle of a novel?

First it’s all about complications and obstacles. You want your character to move forward from what happened in the beginning, but now the stakes have to get higher and sometimes that involves a reversal of fortune. To keep the novel interesting in the middle, you have to have conflict and revelations for the character to deal with.

So that is the goal I’m striving for. This is going to be an interesting section of this revision round.