166: All About the Midpoint: Mindset Edition

 

We did an episode back in November about the structure and strategy of the midpoint of your novel. And in this episode, we're discussing the mindset piece of the halfway mark of your novel.

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ALL ABOUT THE MIDPOINT: MINDSET EDITION

Hi friends, welcome back to your big creative life. Thanks for being here. I'm recording this in early January because I'm trying to get ahead on my podcast episodes. I try to be like a month out, so that way, if I have a busy editing week, a lot of client work going on, then I know like I don't have to record an episode every single week. It's a lot easier for me to just batch the episodes. So I'm recording this in early January, fresh off the holidays, fresh off the new year. And one of my intentions for this month of January, really, because I broke, I broke my my big goals and resolutions for 2025 down into months.

 

So I'm like, okay, for January, I picked five things that I want to focus my energy on, and one of those things is brainstorming my next book, because I have a loose idea. Actually started writing it like a few years ago when I was stuck, and I got about 8000 words in, and then moved to something else, because I realized I needed to figure some things out about the story, and I didn't want to. So anyways, I might come back to that. And I even okay. So this is funny. It's a thriller, and I started writing it, and I was having trouble after I got the first 8000 words out or so, because that's my process. That's just how I write. I get eight to 10,000 words in. It's smooth sailing. And then I hit a stumbling block, and I'm like, Oh, I can't do this, but I know that's my process. So then I was like, Well, let me see if I could, like, tweak this and make it fan fiction. Like, maybe, if I was, if I were just writing fan fiction, maybe it would be easier. And so I changed the characters, and I changed the direction of it so it would be fan fiction, and it did not really help.

 

So I need to go back to that and well, what I really need to do is just do some brainstorming, because I've learned so much and I've grown so much since I first had the vague idea for this thriller that I want to just give some give myself some time to think about it. So anyways, I have a light editing week this week, and I think tomorrow I'm gonna carve out like, an hour and just do some brainstorming and some brain dumping, where I just, like, dump all my ideas onto a page and see what I have, which will be fun. I think, okay, but we're talking about the midpoint in this episode. Maybe a month or two ago, we did an episode that was about the midpoint, more from a novel, structure, craft, type of perspective.

 

So you can go listen to that episode if you want, think of this one as like the companion, because we're talking about mindset, and there's going to be some overlap between the two episodes, because mindset and craft and structure like they're kind of related, so there's definitely gonna be some overlap. But essentially, main takeaway from that episode, if you don't wanna listen for some reason, the midpoint is like the 50% ish mark of your novel. I'm not a stickler for exact percentages, but somewhere around the halfway mark, something big needs to happen to shake up things in your novel. So it sets the character on a different course. They have a big realization, something major happens in the plot that shot that causes them a lot of conflict and stress and grief to course correct. I don't know just something big happens, right? But the reason that I wanted to do a mindset episode as well as a structure craft episode is because the midpoint, meaning, like the halfway mark, can be a sticking point, can be a point of of trouble for a lot of writers, especially if they're when they're writing their first Book. So if you are at the halfway ish mark and you're feeling stuck, you're feeling blocked, you're feeling like your story is absolute garbage, and should you even continue any sort of mindset stuff is coming up.

 

I have some tips in this episode to help you get work through some of that, maybe not overcome it completely, but at least some ways to shift your perspective, some things to try. So that's what we're going to be talking about in this episode. You do not have to struggle at the halfway mark. There are writers who don't. Everyone has like a different process with writing, and everyone has a different everyone has different things that are easy for them and things that are hard for them. The midpoint for me historically is actually, no, I my first book. It was really difficult, because I realized I was initially going to have three point of view characters in my first book that I wrote ever that is not published, and I got about halfway. I realized I really didn't have a reason to have one of my characters like to be in their point of view and like nothing was really happening. And I'm like, okay, so then I decided to cut it down to two, but then I was agonizing over it, because I didn't know how I wanted things to end. I didn't know where things were going. So I had a big crisis moment around the halfway mark. But the other two books I've written, I didn't really have that.

 

So anyways, I'm just sharing that to say that you don't have to struggle at the midpoint. It's not a requirement. So if you didn't struggle, awesome. That's fine. If you're a new writer who's at the beginning and like, Oh, I'm scared to get to the halfway Park halfway mark, because I'm gonna get writer's block and struggle. No, you might not, so don't expect that you're gonna struggle. But I just want to put this out there, in case you are, in case the midpoint is a challenging place for you to be, because this is, this is something that a lot of writers struggle with, because the momentum. And some writers have a really challenging time with the beginning, like getting started, getting over the hump of that first chapter is the most difficult thing for them. I am a writer like I've shared. Who I love the first eight to 10,000 words, right? So I'm like, Oh, this is great. I'm so excited. I love this. There's a sense of adventure and discovery. Because I'm I'm finally getting into the story and figuring things out. I'm getting to know the characters. It's all wonderful. And then it gets hard, or I have to figure something out. Have to make a decision about something. Something isn't working, whatever.

 

So for some writers who do struggle around the halfway mark, it's that the sense of momentum and like excitement has worn off, because you got through the first half of the book, which is amazing, but you still have a halfway to go. You still have a long way to go before the end of the book. At least when you're in the last few chapters, the end is in sight, you're like, Okay, I just have a little bit more to go. I can get the draft on, but when you're at the 50% mark, it can sometimes feel like, Ah, shit. I've still got so much more to write. I don't know how to resolve this. I feel stuck on this thing, whatever. So I'm gonna give you some different options to do to tackle this, but just know, like I said earlier, this might not be something that you completely overcome. It might always feel challenging to get halfway through a book. You might always feel a little bit stuck, and that's okay. I was talking with a coaching client about this recently, that there are so many things we can do as writers to troubleshoot our process, our mindset, there are hacks, there are tricks, but there's always going to be, I believe, at least a little bit of resistance or friction in the creative process, because what you're doing is a hard thing. You are writing a book, which is a difficult thing to do, right? Or, I guess I said, I've said before, like, it's simple, but it's not easy.

 

So you're doing something that involves creating something from nothing, that is a lot of work, and it's it's challenging, and I don't know that the goal should be to ever get to a place where it is so effortless you just sit down and write a book without ever thinking about it. There's no mindset issues. There's no feeling stuck ever. There's no second guessing yourself, like, I don't know if that's realistic to think about getting to that point. So yes, we want to take the path of least resistance, eliminate friction, try to see if there are things we can do to make the process better and to quiet some of that mindset chatter. But there might always be some difficulty in this. So I just want to, I just want to say that too. Okay, number one is something that's so obvious, but I just want to say it, because maybe you need permission, maybe you need someone else to remind you that this is something you can do. Take a break from the story if you are feeling burned out by writing your book and you're halfway through, if you are feeling frustrated and stuck and it just feels really heavy all the time, then sometimes taking a break is the exact thing that you need to do.

 

Sometimes it's not challenging yourself and continuing to push forward, but sometimes a break is the right thing to do. I know it's not always possible if you have a deadline for something like if you've hired an editor, you have a draft due to a publisher or whatever, but most of the time we can take a break, a week, three weeks, couple days, whatever, take a break. And when you take a break, give yourself permission to unplug fully from the story. Do not like brainstorm but not write, or don't edit but not write. Like fully unplug to give yourself a chance to recharge your brain, to reset a bit so it feels fresher when you come back to it. Sometimes we just need that. We need to take a break.

 

Where did my list go? There we go. Next up to try is to write something new. I have I talk a lot about shiny object syndrome, which is where, when you are writing something and it feels hard and you get stuck, there's a tendency to. Want to jump ship and abandon that project for something new, for a new book idea that is shiny and fresh and exciting, and that's fine. You can do that again. Some writers can like I've shared before. I think some writers can work on multiple projects at once and be completely fine. So that's if that's you go for it where shiny object syndrome gets to be a problem is if you're just never finishing anything like, let's say you get to the halfway point of this book, you stop, you write something new. You get 20, 30,000 words in, then you stop, then you write something new. Then you get halfway with that one. Then you stop, write something new, etc, etc, etc. It just you never finish anything. And that doesn't feel good, right? Because for most of us, we want to publish a book eventually or or continue to publish so but if it's a truly, if it's truly a case where you're just feeling stuck and you feel like you need something fresh, you want to take a break from your book, but you don't want to take a break from writing, then maybe working on something new is, is to give yourself a little bit of a break from your work in progress. Is the right thing to do. And you can set a time limit on this, like you can say, Okay, I'm gonna take two weeks and just get an outline.

 

Come up with an outline, get a rough first chapter, whatever of another book that I want to write. That's what I did when I when I wrote this, the one that I mentioned at the beginning, the thriller that I got like 8000 words in. I did that at a point where I was stuck on a previous book that I was writing. I just needed to write something new, and I did and then I got 8000 words in and stopped. So yeah, sometimes if you, if you don't want to take a break from writing, but you want to take a break from writing, but you want to take a break from your work in progress, give yourself permission to write something new. That's fine. This can also be just like pre writing. If you want to just give yourself an opportunity to, like, not work on your book, not write something new. That's like structured. Just open up a notebook, open your computer and just start journaling or brain dumping and writing whatever you want to write, giving yourself permission to write, but not in such a structured like I am writing a book type of way can be helpful. Next suggestion is to change how you're writing.

 

So if you are someone who writes in the same location. Every single time you open up Microsoft Word, you've written everything in there. You have the same little routine. Physical location is the same. Try switching up how you are writing. This can be as simple or as complex as you want. This can be just writing in Google Docs as opposed to Microsoft Word. This could be trying dictating. It. Could be taking your laptop and moving outside or to your couch, or just writing in a different location to make it feel fresh in your brain. There is something to be said for having a routine and a ritual around writing, where, when you take the same actions before you start writing, your brain is like, oh, yeah, I know what we're doing. We're going to sit down and write, because we did all these things before. And this is my writing area, right? My writing cave, my writing desk, whatever.

 

But sometimes it could be helpful to just shake ourselves out of that and try something different. That was part of the reason that I found dictating so helpful when I dictated a draft of my book a few months ago is like it felt very novel, I guess novel? Yeah, it felt very novel. It felt very exciting to do it in a different way, and that that I had a lot of momentum because of that. So just switch up how you're writing, see if that helps. Do something to make yourself fall back in love with the book, with your world, your story, your characters, setting, something about your book, or multiple things about your book, what can be helpful is if you are feeling burned out and feeling like I've got all this self doubt, I've got all this imposter syndrome, I'm never gonna finish this. This book is trash, is to force yourself to make a list of 10 things that you think you are doing well, almost like a gratitude list, but like, yeah, things you're shifting your perspective on your work. These can be small things. They can be big things, but I would say, try to avoid just like I'm writing well, well, okay, what does that mean?

 

So as an example, I really like my first two lines of my book. I think I'm doing that well. I really love the scene in chapter three where my protagonist gets in a fight with her boyfriend. I think the dialog and the pacing in that scene is really good. I think I write banter, cute, witty banter between two characters very well, right? The point is get a list of. Things that you think are effective in your book, that you think you're doing well, to start to retrain your brain, because we have this negativity bias right where we notice all the things that aren't working that need to be fixed, especially if you're following the method I that the method of drafting that I recommend, which is where you just get the draft out and you let it be rough, you let it be messy, and you don't edit as you go. You just kind of force yourself to get the first draft out first. Then your draft might be rough, it might need a lot of work. So doing this kind of retrains your brain. You switch the lens that you're viewing your work through, and it's like, no, yes, it needs work. Of course, it does.

 

Everyone's first draft needs work. I'm not unique in that, but here are the things that are working and continue to add to that list as more things come through. And maybe I generally talk about, you know, powering through, not going back to read what you've written before, but sometimes that can help, like if you go back to read a chapter or a scene or whatever part of your book that you think is really working and you're proud of then sometimes you get this feeling like, oh, yeah, this isn't all trash. Like, I'm doing this, I'm writing a book. This thing is working. I can keep going, Yeah, it's not all garbage. So maybe that's maybe that's something you can try if it's going to be helpful, if not, if you feel like it's just going to make that inner critic flare up, then, then don't do that.

 

But yeah, changing your perspective of how you view your work is important, and I think that's something that's important for us to develop as writers, because once you allow other people to share their opinions with you, in the form of beta reading, in the form of publishing your book and having reviews and readers who share their opinions, it's like it all kind of, I imagine, gets difficult to to, sort of like sort out and piece out what how you feel about your writing and your and your capabilities and your story and all of that. So I just think it's a good exercise. Um, I think I have one more suggestion, or, I guess, like reframe for you with this whole mindset piece of the midpoint or the halfway mark, which is that remember that however you are feeling about your book, it will change. If you have gotten halfway through, if you've written half a novel already. You know this to be true. You have experience to draw from some days you might wake up look at what you wrote the day before, which you shouldn't.

 

But if you do, you might be like, Oh, my God, this is hot garbage. What the hell I should just give up and abandon this and start something new. You could look at that same page, pages, whatever, three days later and have a completely different feeling about it. You might be like, Wow. Like, yes, it has to be polished and cleaned up and editing. But like, this is really solid. I feel really good about this. That is my experience constantly with my own work. That is the experience that my clients have constantly. So remember, for better or worse, how you feel about your book, your writing will change. And I especially want to bring this point home for you. If you're a new writer, you haven't started to write yet, or you're like very early in the brainstorming, drafting process, whatever it is, an up and down process writing a book, it is a roller coaster of emotion, and it's gonna vary how you feel. And the good news about that is that if you are in a negative mindset about your book, it will change. You will get out of that. It will not stay that way forever.

 

So I don't know about you, but I find some kind of like comfort in that, that it's just feelings aren't facts. It's gonna pass. I won't feel this way forever about it. So if I can just ride it out by taking a break, by writing something new, by falling back in love with my story, whatever we talked about in this episode, then I'm gonna get to a different place with it, even in the experience that I shared with my first book, where I got stuck. I started writing something else, and then I came back to it. I figured it out. I figured out how I was going to resolve it, how I was going to end that book. And I'm, honestly, in some ways, I'm very grateful that I had that experience, because I think if I had had smooth sailing writing my first book, I wouldn't be able to help people number one who are in this experience, and Iwouldn't know what it feels like.

 

But also it taught me a lot about story structure and my own personal process, about how I prefer to draft and figure things out as I go and like, you know, one thing I didn't have in that draft, in those early that early version of the book, is enough drama. I just needed more I needed more drama. I needed more big plot points to force the characters to grow and change and confront these deep seated. Least that they had about their family, themselves, etc. So there's a lot that came from it. Yeah, you really learn a lot in writing a book. Every book, everything that you write, you will learn something from crap, from a craft perspective, but also a mindset perspective, your process, just everything. It's wonderful and also frustrating when you're in it. But again, just remember, however you feel about it, it will change, it will pass. So if you're at this point, I hope this is helpful, remember it's not going to last. You can keep going.

 

And also, I mean, I just want to end with this, like the fact that you wrote half a book. If you're listening to this and you're in that point where you're feeling stuck in the middle, you've written half a novel. That's incredible. There are so many people who want to write a book who never write a single word because they just for whatever reason, they don't actually do it. But you've actually done it. You have started writing a book. You've gotten halfway through, you've developed characters, you've come up with a world with conflict, with setting, with a dialog, you're you're doing it, you're writing a book, and that's really something to celebrate. So I think that's another thing that can help us shift our perspective on it, is just recognizing how far we've come, because that's really something to celebrate. So all right, keep at it. Keep plugging away. If you're at this point, you won't feel like this forever, you're gonna get through Yeah, and you'll learn a lot in the process. We we learn a lot from the hard shit, as much as I wish that were not true, it is so All right. Well, thank you for listening and watching. 

Katie Wolf