PHOTOS: 25 Years Later, A Heartbreaking Look Back At Exxon’s Alaska Oil Spill
A look back at some of the most powerful images from the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the events that followed.
I am old enough to remember this.
- WAIT A SECOND
- IF AMY MARRIED KING HENRY VIII
- AND THE DOCTOR MARRIED QUEEN ELIZABETH I
- THAT WOULD MAKE AMY
- QUEEN ELIZABETH’S STEPMOTHER
- WHICH WOULD MEAN
- THAT AMY POND
- IS THE DOCTOR’S MOTHER-IN-LAW
- TWICE
WELCOME TO DOCTOR WHO EVERYBODY
What if Moriarty drugged Sherlock? Like what happened in the Hounds of Baskerville. Sherlock had already been thinking of thousands of different rooftop scenarios so if he HAD been drugged it probably would of caused him to see what he believed would happen (like with the hound). Also, when Moriarty “shot” himself the gunshots would of been loud enough to attract the police. When he did, Sherlock panicked. Yes, it was because of John, but even then it is very unusual. Just like Baskervile.
OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY G O D
Focusing on the Middle of Your Novel
Many writers worry about developing the middle of their novel or they simply lose motivation when they start thinking about what to write about. Even if you know the beginning and end of your novel, it can be difficult to connect the two and build an exciting plot inbetween. The best way to begin tackling this issue is to understand pacing and how your novel should be structured.
The basic structure is as follows:
Stasis
This includes the introduction, the description of the everyday life of your main character, and an explanation of your world. During this time you can focus on showing your audience what your world is like and how your characters interact with it on a daily basis. You can start to set things up.
Inciting Incident
This is your protagonist’s call-to-action. What forces your character to change their usual behavior? This is when your character decides to get in the action OR they are forced to get in on the action. I’ve written a longer post about this here.
The Quest
There’s something your protagonist needs to do or there’s a journey they must embark on. This doesn’t always mean an actual physical journey; it can be an emotional one depending on your story. The point is that they must set out to learn something as a result of the inciting incident. There’s some knowledge, item, etc. they must acquire.
Surprise
There should be obstacles, problems, trouble, conflict, etc. for your protagonist. This will make up most of the middle of your novel. What stands in your character’s way? What is preventing them from finishing their quest and returning to normal?
Critical Choice
What your character has learned or how they have developed over the course of your novel is often revealed during the critical choice. They should have to choose between two paths and their choices should reveal something about them. These choices will change the course of the novel.
Climax
This is the highest point of tension in your story, when your character has to deal with the critical choice they have made. Your story generally builds up to this point.
Reversal
The reversal is a result of the critical choice and the climax. The story is lead in a new direction because of these things. The events leading up to the climax begin to cool down and something happens that helps lead to the resolution. This is usually when your protagonist reverses the situation and finds a way out of the problem (or doesn’t).
Resolution
The resolution should lead into a new stasis for your characters. This doesn’t mean that everything ends up good for your characters; it just means that things have come full circle in a way. The story arc for his particular story is closed and lessons have been learned.
Once you begin to understand the structure of a story, you can begin focusing on the middle chunks of your novel, specifically the inciting incident-reversal stages.
Here are a few tips to prevent your novel from failing in the middle:
