We’re
back on structural elements today and delving deeper into plot. Whheeeee!!
Most
of the “keywords” I’ll mention in these plotting posts are from Larry Brooks’ series on story structure
(i.e. 6 core competencies). That’s because his definitions and explanations
make sense to me in a more concrete way than any other method of plotting I’ve
tried.
It
works for me. It won’t work for everyone. But if you’re a plotter and you
haven’t read his series on
NaNoWriMo, you really should.
Today
we’re talking Pinch Points, of which your novel will have at least two. These
are moments where your story’s main conflict is intentionally highlighted, when
the reader gets to see the antagonist’s truly bad nature in a way that is
separate from any biases your MC may have. In other words, even if your MC
can’t see the bad guy for who he truly is, the reader will (even if it’s not
until the second read-through.)
Totally
clear, right?
Some
examples:
On the roof of the Training Center the night
before the Games, Katniss and Peeta discuss how the Gamekeepers manipulate the
tributes and set them up to fail.
In the Great Hall, Harry’s scar hurts for
the first time. He thinks it’s because he’s looking at Professor Snape. Really,
it’s because of Quirrell’s turban facing him.
Frustrated and desperate for comfort, Tris
goes to Erudite to visit her brother. When she returns, Eric is waiting for
her. (It’s also arguable that when Eric forces Christina to hang over the Pit
by her fingertips that this is a Pinch Point. I disagree because the
aforementioned moment paints both Janine and Eric as antagonists in cahoots.)
Cinderella’s stepmother tells her she can go
to the royal ball…if she finishes an impossible list of chores.
Katniss makes her first kill—the kid who
snared and speared Rue—and becomes a murderer.
Harry’s broom gets cursed during Quittich.
(He thinks it’s Snape--who’s really muttering a counter-curse. But right beside
him is Quirrell and that pesky turban.)
POTTER,
like other stories
with suspenseful twists revealed at the end, is a little tricky where Pinch
Points are concerned. Because instead of two pinch points, you really have
four: The two red herrings you want the reader to fall for as the writer, and
the two true sightings of the bad guy that the reader probably won’t realize
are there until they go back and read the story for a second time.
If
you’re working off a Four-Act plot structure, the Pinch Points happen during
Act II and Act III—on either side of the midpoint. You may have other moments like this at other
points during your book, where the reader sees the antagonistic force for
themselves, but there will be at least two of them.
***Two questions I had when I first read about Pinch
Points***
If we
are in first person POV, how do we see the antagonist’s evil nature without the
MC’s bias?
The
reader can always have a different opinion from your main character. This is
one of the reasons it’s really important for your MC to have flaws. If your MC
is perfect, and we’re in his/her head, there’s not a lot of surprise happening
with the Pinch Points. And she might be aware of who the bad guy is, he just
might not fully perceive the scene the way a reader would should they go back
and read for a second time.
What
if you’re writing a romance or other such manuscript where the antagonist isn’t
a character, but rather some sort of internal struggle?
There’s
still got to be an antagonistic force. It might not be a person. It might be a
character flaw. It might be a relationship conflict. But if your story doesn’t
have conflict, if nothing opposes your main character, you don’t have a plot.
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