So far, even with a brand new four-footed family member adjusting to the household – and discovering this morning that good friends were having incredible family trauma, I’m still a good, solid week into my word count commitment. And discovering sometimes all it takes to get peace from the new puppy is a rawhide bone…it still is sometimes difficult to come up with a topic that’s writerly for this post. Then it comes up and smacks you.

I’m currently listening to a talk radio show archive – The Jerry Doyle Show. Though I’m glad Mr. Doyle’s health is much better (the world wouldn’t be the same without Garibaldi in it), I’m listening to most of June when Dwight Schultz was the “sit’n’fill’n'”. Dwight is one of my all time favorite character actors – and someday would LOVE to write for. Today I was listening to the June 17th archive show – now, the show is current events/politics and conservative – but it’s also thought-provoking and entertaining, and one thing Dwight talked about on the show prompted this.

Dwight was talking about how he “collects titles”. How he finds ideas that would make great titles to books or be opening to movies – but he never does anything with them. He goes on to say Beginning and Endings are easy – it’s the Middle that’s hard. “It’s when you sit down to do the work” that it’s hard. “Having an idea,” he says, “is nothing. It’s when you sit down to do it [that makes it work].”

Don’t get me wrong, I think ideas are important. Plot Bunnies make the world go round. They really do – as long as they’re the impetus to do the work. And I think Dwight has a good point. The Plot Bunny itself doesn’t do a whole lot if there’s not completion and submission.

And he’s right, the Middle IS hard. Many writers may know how they want the story to start and may even know what the Exciting Conclusion is going to be – but then there’s the part where you actually have to get there. You can’t go from Point A to Point C without going through Point B. It’s the “unsexy” part of the story/book/script. And since it’s the Unsexy part, it’s where a phenomena called “Middle Sag” happens. Where the plot stumbles along, or the description is padded to make sure a word count is met, or some once awesome tangent goes terribly awry. It happens to almost every writer.

The good news is this – It’s FIXABLE. That’s what the revision process and writer groups are for. To help you get through the Unsexy parts. To help trim and tighten the Middle. To help you keep getting the work done. Because it is WORK. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. This part. The unsexy middle is where the rubber meets the road. If you’re a writer – a real writer – the middles won’t get you down. You’ll be able to power through, to endure the emotional and physical exhaustion of creating your story, your world, no matter what anyone says. 90% off the world thinks they can be a writer. Only 10% or less actually step up to do it. Are you ready to put in the work?