Suit up: A Guide to the Action World

⤷ middle build

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𝖒𝖎𝖉𝖉𝖑𝖊 𝖇𝖚𝖎𝖑𝖉
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This is where you introduce the story's characters and environment. You've got the story moving and left the viewer with a lot of unanswered questions. You capture their interest and compel them to want to learn more.

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The action of your story takes place in the expansive middle. You expand on the promise made at the beginning of the story to further deepen it. The middle of your story is when you get to elaborate on your ideas. There are subplots that echo and reinforce the primary narrative and provide your protagonist a deeper knowledge. Creating a series of confrontations that raise the stakes as the story progresses is how you accomplish this goal.

The middle is where you deliver on the story promise you made in the beginning.

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1. The First Part of the Middle Expands Your Story

You made a promise at the outset that your reader would get a terrific narrative. The beginning of the second half broadens the scope of the story's universe. As your primary character interacts with other characters, faces challenges, and responds in various ways, you develop depth to their personality. In the second half of the middle, you'll upset the reader's expectations by reversing what they learned about the character in the first half of the middle.

2. Make it Real

It's time to broaden the scope of the plot after it's been started in motion. During those scenes, both your protagonist and the reader go on a journey of discovery. Your reader's attention should be maintained at this point. The rest of the book allows you to develop your plot to its logical conclusion. Don't be afraid to share more of your tale with your audience!

Your investigator delves into the world of the victim in your mystery. It's her goal to find links between the deceased and the remaining suspects.

3. The Problem

Find out what motivated your protagonist to go on the story's journey by doing some background research.

For authors of mystery novels, your investigator is now on the case. There's a chance they'll go to the crime site to look for leads. These investigators find out who the murdered person was connected to, identify suspects, and question those persons. They look into the evidence to see what can point them in the direction of the assassin.

You underline the significance of the problem by providing specifics. In the reader's mind, the moral dilemmas presented by the problem are crucial to the plot and the protagonist.

4. Subplots

Subplots that create mini-stories within your mystery will give your story depth. Your story may come across as boring if it lacks depth. It could also appear bloated if you devote too much time to fleshing out the specifics of your main plot.

Subplots bring your story to life by giving it a human face. There isn't only one issue to fix in the actual world. By including them, you give your protagonist more depth and give your reader a reason to identify with him or her.

Subplots including your sleuth's inner demons, a love interest, and foes are prevalent in mystery novels, and they give your detective a richer character.

5. The Choice

The protagonist is forced to make a tough decision. He has the best of intentions, but even though it seems to be the best course of action, the results lead him astray. As a result, it's sometimes referred to as the decision's initial pinch point. Act 2 is about midway through when it occurs (Four-Act Structure). This decision moves the story's protagonist closer to the halfway mark.

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Web Resources:
https://storygrid.com/action-genre/