What happens in the middle?

I've talked about beginnings (here, too) and endings (and here's one from Sooz), but recently someone mentioned they'd really like some thoughts on middles.

A lot of times, when people get stuck in the middle of their book, it's because they're not totally sure what the middle is supposed to do.. Obviously the beginning sets up conflicts and the ending resolves them, but the middle? The middle is all opportunity to make things worse.

Here's a handy numbered list.

1. Build on established conflicts.

Take a look at what you've already done. Build on that by reinforcing something the characters already know, or the reader knows, and show something in action.

• If there's a monster marauding through the city in the first part of the story but we haven't seen it yet, this is a great time to give us a peek. (Cue JAWS theme.)

• If someone's threatened war, let them announce the war is on.

• If there's a plague, start killing side characters right in front of your main characters.

Show the reader that these conflicts you've set up are that serious by giving everyone a hint of what's to come. The middle is the perfect spot for making everything real

2. Complicate established conflicts.

Yep, I'm counting this as different than building, because by complicating conflicts, you can use twists and reveals and other things to make everything worse.

• Someone betrays our main characters.

• Another character appears to shake things up.

• The characters attempt to solve the problem and they make it worse.

• Information is revealed and suddenly everything we thought was true is an awful lie.

I always feel like the middle is my last chance to introduce new complications to the story, be it characters or events. For me, introducing those later starts to feel a bit contrived, unless there's a sequel and something at the very end happens to complicate the situation for the next book.

3. Nudge your characters toward the end.

You've just made everything awful. Give them something useful.

• Information that can help them later (even if they don't know it yet).

• A hint about how they might solve the big problems.

• Even give the poor characters a chance to plan to take some kind of action.

This is your chance to line up those last few dominos so everything can just go horribly (violently!?) wrong in the ending. Godspeed.

So, that's my basic thoughts on middles. Anyone have anything to add?