by Kay Springsteen
Whether you plot your story or pants it as you go, at some point you have to get to the middle. Many authors I’ve spoken with complain about the same thing. Getting to the middle and losing momentum. For whatever reason, characters stop cooperating, the story feels stale. An author might start wondering things like, “What was I thinking?”
I know from experience if I can just reach that turning point in the story arc, from introduction to first inciting incident (or sometimes second, depending on how complicated the story is with plot twists), and onward into the first obstacle, 
I will be fine and the climax and end of the story will come easily.
But how to overcome that muddle in the middle, when my characters seem to want to spin their wheels and loll in the mud while I’m trying to get them to tell their stories? I’ve put more characters into timeout for being uncooperative than is good for my writing lately.
Lately, I’ve taken to skipping the muddle completely when the characters decide to become couch potatoes. I simply bypass their reticence to cooperate and move into the meat of the story. Now, I know a lot of non-writers have heard some of us talking about the voices in our head, and thankfully, you all haven’t run screaming when we say something along those lines. With that in mind, I’m going to detail the conversation I had with the main characters from my latest WIP so you can see just how temperamental these characters you enjoy so much can become even before they hit the big time (a published book).
ME: This is a sweet scene where you’re having a nice time getting to know one another, but I’m on a deadline, so we have to get through this today. I need to get your first obstacle up on the board.
HEROINE: But I’m only just getting to know this guy. I don’t want any obstacles.
ME: Well, the obstacle’s already there. I already know what the complication is going to be. So let’s just get to it.
HERIONE (Grabs hero around the waist): No! We LIKE the way things are. Why can’t you just leave us alone?
ME (looking at hero): Do you have anything to say?
HERO (leans in and gives heroine a kiss): Mmmmm.
ME: Don’t make me put you in time-out.
HEROINE: You won’t do that. You already have six of us in timeout.
HERO: We could bring beer and have a party in time-out.
ME: Fine, no time-out. I’ll just keep writing.
I type a few lines.
HERO: Hey, we’re in a hospital! How did we get here? We were on the sofa making out just a minute ago.
HEROINE: Why am I crying? I don’t remember anything bad happening. And who are all these strangers around us?
HERO: And why the hell am I holding a baby carrier???
ME: I jumped ahead.
HERO/HEROINE: You can’t do that!
ME (smiling): I just did.
They started behaving after this. The thing is, whatever it takes to get through the slump before all the action starts, you need to do it. There will be time during the editing and revision process to go back and fill in details and close plot holes. The point is to get past the road blocks that stop the writing process.
Questions for writers: What things halt your writing process? How do you overcome these barriers to writing?
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