So how did that first window of opportunity turn out? It had better be crystal clear, cutting-edge unique.
Today we focus on the second act, better-known as The Fricking Middle, where you DANGLE the puzzle in front of your reader while revealing your clues one at a time. Every nuance of mystery should bring out nuances of character. Every action should either raise the stakes or define them. Every scene should play into your final goal.
So you'd better know what that goal is - why? Well if you don't, Private, you're gonna get bogged down in a quagmire called BORING. And you'll stall--or your reader will.
I'm not big on outlines because I think if YOU know how the book is going to end, your READERS will know how it's going to end. So what exactly would be the point of reading it?
Instead, just set a clear goal. For a mystery, maybe it's to get to Act 3 with four plausible suspects in play; for a thriller, to send us into cardiac arrest while chasing a terrorist and setting up the final battle; and for that suspense novel, maybe we want to forge a literary highway into the darkest recesses of the human soul--so we can confront it in The End.
Write out your goal and a few of the devices you want to use to get there. Then make sure your Fricking Middle sets it up ... tauntingly.
(Yes, Recruit, that's a fricking adverb.)
