It’s not just about stomach crunches any more. Problems with the middle of your novel or memoir often have to do with problems in the early pages of your book: starting in the wrong place, lack of character development and specificity, stakes, motivation, fear of conflict, not thinking enough about cause and effect, and avoiding necessary scenes. We’ll talk about Philip Gerard’s idea of a story’s “signature,” George Saunders on escalation, the all-important “crucible,” the false victory or defeat, and what a midpoint really needs. At the end of the class, you’ll have more ideas for how to make your middle work and the tools you need to help you avoid that saggy middle in the future.
Michelle Hoover has taught writing for more than 25 years and currently leads the GrubStreet Novel Incubator program, which she co-founded in 2011. Her students have signed 50+ book contracts. She is a 2014 NEA Fellow and has been a Writer-in-Residence at Brandeis University, a fellow at MacDowell, Bread Loaf, and Sewanee Writers Conferences, and a winner of the PEN/New England Discovery Award. Her debut, The Quickening, was a 2010 Massachusetts Book Award "Must Read," a finalist for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize, and one of Susan Straight's 1001 "Library of America" Novels featured in the L.A. Times. Her second novel, Bottomland, was the 2017 All Iowa Reads selection and a 2016 Mass Book "Must Read." She is the creator of The 7am Novelist, the popular podcast and webinar series for writers. She is a native of Iowa and lives in Cyprus and Boston.
