She describes the problems that writers often have with their middles, such as dropping the threads of the plot line, digressions, slowing the pace of action, and failing to develop the main character. Orr advises the readers to watch and learn from movies, especially action-driven ones like Jaws and character-driven flicks like The Verdict.
From the films, writers learn that "Conflict is the key to creating, concocting,, and imagining the kinds of events that will avoid the bogged-down middle...." Orr offers a list of a dozen suggestions for establishing and developing conflict in your novel. So, if conflict is the key, then her dozen suggestions are the true secrets to writing a manuscript that sells.
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