Crafting Your Best Story - Writing Tip #22 - The White Room Syndrome

Have you ever read a story where it's all action and dialogue but you can't quite picture where it's all taking place? This is what I call the White Room Syndrome. It happens when the author fails to give the reader enough setting for the scene. As a rule of thumb I try to always provide at least two or three setting details to anchor the scene.

For instance, many YA books have scenes that take place in a classroom. Because most of us already know what North American classroom is like, it's easy to assume that we don't need to provide setting details because we believe the reader will provide those on her own. This may be true, but it doesn't provide for an engaging reading experience.

Say we have two characters sitting together in a classroom. There's tension, conflict and witty dialogue between them, but beyond their shared desk it's a white out.  A few details added by the pov character will create a sense of dimension.

A poster of the cross section of a man's chest hung on the wall, heart, lungs and liver exposed, the corners curling with aged tape held firm by tacks. Across the room a warm breeze blew in through open windows. Mr. Jones's back faced us as he scribbled on the board, chalk scratching in rhythm.

Now back to action/ dialogue between characters. See how mentioning three things brings the setting alive?

Of course the opposite problem to the white room syndrome is excessive descriptive passages. If I went on and on about every detail in the classroom the reader's eyes would begin to gloss over before he even got to the action/dialogue.

Here's an example from Divergent by Veronica Roth. Her main character has entered a room where she'll be tested to determine what faction she's from.

Mirrors cover the inner walls of the room. I can see my reflection from all angles: the gray fabric obscuring the shape of my back, my long neck, my knobby-knuckled hands, red with a blood blush. The ceiling glows white with light. In the center of the room is a reclined chair, like a dentist, with a machine next to it. It looks like a place where terrible things happen.

"Don't worry," the woman says, " it doesn't  hurt."

Ms Roth even uses this passage to describe a setting as an opportunity for us to see what her main character looks like. You can see that she picked out three things to brighten the setting--the mirrors, the ceiling and the reclined chair.

In Clockwise, Nate and Casey are in the cabin for the first time and Nate's asking questions. Casey pauses to consider her surroundings before answering.

... two cots with a night table between them--a candle and a box of matches the only thing on it--and a larger table under the window with a pitcher and bowl for washing up. A small brick fireplace was built into the corner with a little pile of kindling and a stack of wood against the wall. I lit the candle, then stepped across the room, the wooden floor squeaking under my feet.

Three things are described and elaborated on which erases the white room syndrome: the cots, a larger table, a fireplace. Now when Casey and Nate talk, we can really picture where they are.

Sometimes it just takes one or two details to brighten a setting in order to the ground the reader in the setting and make for a more engaging and enjoyable read.

Crafting Your Best Story - Writing Tip #17 - Back Story, Flashbacks and Foreshadowing

Back story is the story that happened before your story starts. As the writer, it’s good to know the history of your characters--what brought them to the place they are now, and how those events have shaped them as characters.

But what you don’t want to do is give the reader all that information up front. This is an error that many beginning writers make. There’s a belief that if you don’t tell me everything about the character and what led up to “where they are now at the beginning of the story”, that somehow I, the reader, won’t “get it.”

A story that is front loaded with back story is boring. If you need the back story to be part of the story, then start your story at the beginning of the “back story.”

Think of back story like salt. You shake a bit on your story as you go along to add flavor. Too much in any given spot ruins the taste.

Let’s look at CLOCKWISE. I start the story when Casey is fifteen, watching a football practice at the school. Every thing before that is back story. How would the opening have worked if I’d spent the first chapter explaining when she started time traveling and how often it happens, and that she accidentally took her best friend back once, all before she jumped and caught the ball? Snoozeville. It’s all interesting information that needs to be told, but sprinkled throughout the story.

Or with TWILIGHT, Edward could’ve sat Bella down and explained the whole history of his life and the vampire clan in the first chapter, just so she’d really understand what she was getting into, but that would’ve made for a dull story.

Likewise with HARRY POTTER. If JK Rowling had started the first book with Voldemort killing his parents and leaving the scar on his forehead as a baby, that would’ve probably been interesting to read, but then we’d have ten years of his life to go through before being called to Hogwarts, and that wouldn’t have been so interesting.

Flashbacks should be avoided. Stories are interesting because they are happening to the character as we read it. Reading about something that has already happened, not so much. It takes a lot of skill as a writer to sustain tension and suspense while writing about something that has already happened (and obviously the character having the flashback is okay.)

Foreshadowing is an important writing tool. You’ve probably heard it said that if a gun shows up in chapter three, it better go off sometime before the end of the book. Likewise, if you want the reader to believe that your character would do something courageous at the climax of the book, you need to show him being courageous in the beginning. In my book PLAYING WITH MATCHES, I wanted one unlikely character to do something heroic that would cost him his life. He wasn’t the hero type but I knew I needed show him facing a fear, so I had him accomplish a scary test of bravery he had to perform for his Hitler Youth group.

In TWILIGHT, we hear about the bear attacks at the sport shop (Mike’s, I believe), before we know for sure it wasn’t the bears.

Foreshadowing is important to help the reader suspend disbelief when the twist happens.

Any questions about the above points? Let me know in the comments.

Crafting Your Best Story - Writing Tip #15 - It's All in the Details

Details make the difference. When I make a second, third, fourth, etc pass on my ms, I'm always on the look out on how I can add details to add dimension. Details are what help to keep our characters and settings from appearing flat and two dimensional.

To demonstrate I'll use THE CAY as an example, re-writing the first two paragraphs here, first without the details, and then again with the details the author, Theodore Taylor, provided.

Like sharks that swim in the sea, the German submarines arrived at night.

I was asleep in our house in Willemstad, on the island of Curacao, the largest of the Dutch island just off the coast of Venezuela. I remember that, in February 1942, they attacked the Lago oil refinery on Aruba, the island west of us. Then they blew up our lake tankers, the ones that still bring crude oil from Lake Maracaibo to the refinery, Curacaoshe Petroleum Maatschappij, to be made into gasoline, kerosene, and  diesel oil.  One sub was even sighted off Willemstad at dawn.

You get the picture--you can envision this, right? The scene is set accurately. But the author wasn't satisfied with just accuracy. He wanted to paint a picture. He wanted to add depth. So he wrote this:

Like silent, hungry sharks that swim in the darkness of the sea, the German submarines arrived at  in the middle of the night.

I was asleep on the second floor of our narrow, gabled green in our house in Willemstad, on the island of Curacao, the largest of the Dutch island just off the coast of Venezuela. I remember that on that moonless night  in February 1942, they attacked the big Lago oil refinery on Aruba, the island west of us. Then they blew up our small lake tankers, the ones that still bring crude oil from Lake Maracaibo to the refinery, Curacaoshe Petroleum Maatschappij, to be made into gasoline, kerosene, and  diesel oil.  One sub was even sighted off Willemstad at dawn.

 This version as found in the book tells us all the same things the first version did, but the details added entice the reader, helping him or her to really see it and want to read on.

Here is a scene from THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX with the details removed.

I wonder how Lily knows a priest in a mission so far from Boston. We reach the end of the cemetery and come to the wall of the church that borders it. Lily pulls open a wooden door, and  we slip inside. My eyes adjust and I see a domed ceiling and then a crucified figure. Christ. Yes, Christ. I remember. 

Now as the author, Mary E Pearson, wrote it:

I wonder how Lily knows a priest in an ancient mission so far from Boston. We reach the end of the cemetery and come to the great wall of the church that borders it. Lily pulls open yet another large wooden door, and this time we slip inside into cool blackness and the sweet smell of burning candles, mustiness and age. My eyes adjust and I see a domed painted ceiling and then a guilded crucified figure. Christ. Yes, Christ. I remember. 

Ms Pearson's use of detail in this passage not only permits us to fully see/smell/taste the setting, it enlists our emotions--we feel Jenna's emotional process of remembering.

Please note that I'm not saying you should just add a bunch of adjectives and adverbs to your text, though some of those may be useful. The point is to create depth and emotion by adding worthy details--details that enhance the writing, not bog it down.

Stay tuned for next week's post on Chapter and Scenes.

Crafting Your Best Story - Writing Tip #14 - Characters Who Have, uh, Character

Why do we sometimes say that a person we know is "quite a character"? You know the type I'm talking about. This person is distinctive, amusing, mystical, humorous, larger than life,etc. In a word Interesting.

Characters in a book can't be run of the mill. They need to be interesting, so that your readers will want to hang out with them for the course of the book.  No one wants to be exiled to yawnsville when they start reading.

So, how do you make your characters interesting? It's all in the details.

For instance, I wrote a Middle Grade that was based on a story I'd written when I first started writing.  The MC is forced to visit his grandfather who lives in a small town. This is the scene where he meets up with a couple kids down the street. The original reads like this:

  "Hi Tim. It's me Nathan." He didn't say anything.  "I'm here for the summer."

Tim kept silent, narrowed his eyes and glared at me. He finally said, "Nice hair-do" in that sarcastic way where you know he doesn't mean it. What's wrong with my hair? I wondered. My hand instantly went to my head. I had just been to the barber. Then I noticed that Tim hadn't had a haircut in a while. At least not a good one.  

  "Where's Mikki?" I said. Tim stood up. I noted he was tall for eleven, about the same height as me. Then he just walked away. I was flustered at this cool reception and started kicking small rocks in the street, trying to figure out what to do next. Just as I was about to leave, Mikki walked around the corner with two little girls following behind her. 

What's wrong with it?  Well, besides being boring.....oh, that's enough, it's boring!  Who'd want to hang with these people for a whole book?

This is the current version, from IT'S A LITTLE HAYWIRE. You'll notice name changes, a change in the MC's voice and perspective, as well as in the secondary characters. Notice also, the details sprinkled in. 

        I can't breathe. I rest my hands on my knees, feeling stupid. Why didn’t I stop to catch my breath before I rounded the corner looking like a feeble dweeb?        

       Mikki and Mason don’t say a word, just stare at me, eyes narrow and searching.      

       "Hi Mikki. Hi Mason,” I say once I can inhale and exhale again like a normal human being.    

        “Well, if it ain’t Owen True.” Mikki's voice is stretched and thin, like she’s forcing herself to be friendly.       

      Mason's lips turn up in a smirk. “Nice hair-do.”  My hand automatically brushes across the top of my head. My Mom made me get my hair buzzed for the wedding. Mason snorts then gets up and goes inside. Two little girls come out at the same time, skipping down the steps.   

          “Oh crickets,” Mikki says. “Opal and Ruby, you two need to clean up this mess. What do you think this is? A pig pen?” I’m glad she hadn’t asked me. I'd be forced to lie.
            Mikki stands up as if to supervise. She props her hands on her waist and her pointy elbows stick out on either side. The triangular spaces remind me of space shuttle wings. I bet she’d like to just fly off if she could. Get outta Haywire. I feel a little sorry for her then.  Even though I’m stuck here for the whole of August, at least I get to leave when it’s over.

I'm hoping this example explains what I'm trying to say, better than my trying to describe the difference. To form interesting characters you need character arc, felt need, distinctive character voice and details.  How about you? Do you have anything to add? What do you do to give your characters character?

We'll talk more about the need for details in the next post.

Crafting Your Best Story - Tip #13 - Look Who's Talking - What is Voice?

When it comes to writing there are two kinds of "voice": the author's voice and character voice. 

Trying to teach someone how to write Author's voice is like trying to teach someone how to hold onto a slippery amphibian--it's a hard concept to grab onto. Author's voice is the feel of a book, what make's it distinctively one writer's story over another. It's the choice of words and flow; it's the cadence and style.  The elements of voice are hard to pinpoint. Think about John Grisham or Stephen King, Danielle Steele or Helen Fielding (or for YA examples, Stephenie Meyer, J.K. Rowling, John Green, etc)--all great writers, but completely different in style. You know when you're reading a John Grisham book, just what kind of book to expect. Not because of branding, but because of how he writes.

How do you find your voice? By writing. I remember the moment when I realized, Hey, This is my voice! It happened after I had written a lot of different stuff. In fact, I'll admit it happened while writing CLOCKWISE. Everything I wrote before that lack a certain something. Mostly I was copying other writers that I admired. My work sounded a lot like whatever author I'd been reading at the time. Then suddenly, my work started sounding like me.

This doesn't mean a writer can only write in one genre. Once you've found your voice it'll follow you, no matter the genre.

For Character voice,  we're talking about something different. We're talking about what each and every one of your characters talk and act like.  Beginning writers often default to the character voice they know best, their own. They have a very strong tendency to give all their characters their own personality. They all say whatever is said, the way the author herself would say them. Do you know what I mean? Have you done this? 

So when writing character voice, you need to know your characters a little bit before starting. Do they have a chip on their shoulder? Are they depressed? Are they in love? Are they fighters? Or givers?  You need to know something that will shape how your characters speak. See the chapter on Felt Need for more on this.

I just finished a light paranormal YA novel where the main character starts off the story overly self-confident. Of course this attribute is shaken up as the story progresses, but it shapes how she sees the world and it comes through in her voice, whether it's inner dialogue or spoken word.

What I sometimes do in second to final drafts, and what I did with this ms, is go through each main and secondary character's conversations from start to finish, by putting their name in FIND. You should be able to identify each speaker by how they talk, and not just by the dialogue tag.

For instance, in this ms I had three characters vying for the protag's attention (for differing reasons). One character was the boy next door, the guy the MC grew up with. He spoke with a lot of slang like gonna, wanna, and modern vernacular. The main love interest was more formal with his behavior and speech and the one who turned out to be the antagonist was very forward and brash in his encounters with the MC.

As I searched for each of their names, I checked to make sure that each one had his own speech pattern. I had to make some adjustments at this point. It's interesting to note that I wasn't aware of these distinctives as I started the first draft--their characters defined themselves in the writing. I honed in on their differences in the revision process.

 How do you define voice?

Crafting Your Best Story - Tip #12 - The Problem with Pacing

I'm a "tight" writer. I rarely have the problem of having over-written and therefore must go back to a bloated manuscript and cut thousands of words.

This can be a good thing, to be able write with an economy of words...but there is such a thing as too tight.

Which is why I often call my first draft an elaborate outline.

I identified my problem. PACING.

I'm jumping from exciting plot point to exciting plot point, with no room to breath in between. Sometimes this technique is good--it keeps you on the edge of your seat. But in my case I know that I'm not establishing key elements like setting or emotional conflict as well as I could.

I decided I needed to see how other writers were dealing with pacing so I picked a book off my shelf that was on the thicker side, one of our example books, TWILIGHT.  I wanted to see how she handled pacing.

First, it's easy to recall her main plot points: Bella spotting Edward in the Cafeteria; Bella and Edwards first encounter in Biology; Edward saving Bella from getting crushed; the sparkle reveal; the ball game; encounter with James and the beginning of the hunt; the escape with Alice and Jasper; James contacting Bella; her escape at the airport; the dance room scene; the rescue; the hospital; the prom.

If I had written Twilight it would've only been half as long, even while keeping all those scenes.  (And yeah, maybe Twilight could have used a bit of  thinning.)

So what did I notice?

Ms Meyers wasn't in a big rush to get Bella and Edward to meet. Bella arrives at Forks, we meet her dad, see her house, go through a day of school, meet her friends, sure she sees Edward and we find out a bit about him through her friends Jessica's eyes, but we don't actually MEET him until his unusual reaction to Bella in Biology.

My instinct would've been to open with that scene.

Ms Meyers didn't worry about giving us too much detail about setting. Sometimes we'd get two or three paragraphs detailing a room or forest. I tend to worry if I spend too much time describing setting, the reader will fall asleep, but actually it helps a reader to get rooted in a story if they can really see where they are and what's going on. Of course you can go overboard with description, but in my case, I can see that I tend to error on the side of too little.

Her emotional descriptions were generous as well. We understood how Bella and her father were alike, and why it worked for them to live together, we understood her obsession with Edward, and even though we could've probably lived with fewer descriptions of Edward's eyes and the wide swath of emotion that oozed from them, we were left in no doubt about the speed and intensity at which their love affair grew.

She also didn't have a problem with a large cast. There are the kids at school, the Cullen family and a brief encounter with the reservation tribe. They all needed fair description and stage time over the course of the book.

The villain didn't arrive until the last act. That was kind of surprising. I suppose that was part of the twist, although if you paid attention to the prologue, you knew she was going to get hunted.

Speaking of prologue: it was super short. The best kind.

Knowing that Twilight was the first book of a series, I also watched for how she planted clues for book two, since I never know if there will be a book two or a book three.  I wonder how much she really knew in advance about how the story with Jacob and the Quileutes tribe would evolve. Jacob Black plays a really small role in book one, with only his ominous message from his father to Bella at the prom to hint at more conflict to come.

What do you think? Do you struggle with pacing? Either too slow or too fast like me?

Crafting Your Best Story - Tip #11 - Plots and Subplots

What is plot?

For some reason plot is not easily defined, and yet if plot is missing in a book or movie we know it. How? We find ourselves shaking our heads saying, I don’t get it, and What is this story about? 

Plot is closely related to structure, in fact, the major structure plot points should reflect the plot.

There must be a problem or a quest. There must be obstacles that get in the way of solving the problem or continuing the quest. There must be a solution to the problem or a completion of the quest.

The plot problem in CLOCKWISE is the situation Casey finds herself in when she accidentally brings a boy she hardly knows, though is crushing on hard, back to the past.

In TWILIGHT the plot problem is a mortal girl falls in love with a vampire boy who could kill her even though he loves her.

HARRY POTTER is an example of a quest. He has to find a way to stop Voldemort from succeeding with his evil plans, a quest that continues through all seven books.

Most novel length books need more than just the plot to propel the story along. The plot is assisted with subplots. While the story can be told without subplots, subplots alone are not the story.

In CLOCKWISE one subplot involves Casey who is suddenly faced with the attentions of a wealthy suitor, an egotistical man who doesn’t know how to take a hint. In the present the subplots revolve around her family dynamics and the tension her trips with Nate cause with her best friend. Then there’s the SPOILER subplot that must not be named! =)

In TWILIGHT the main story revolves around Bella’s growing relationship with a vampire. The subplots include her friendship with Jacob and the secrets of his family, and her growing but awkward relationship with her father.

Can you pick out the subplots in HARRY POTTER?

Some people like to look at sub-plotting as braiding.  

Imagine the center strand as the main plot line and the outside strands are subplots. As you structure your story, the subplots twist around the plot creating a braid—a well developed novel.

You can have more than two subplots, of course, though not all books require it. Use whatever your story needs to build the plot, just remember that you have to tie up all the loose ends by the end of your story, including all subplots.

One important thing to remember while plotting is to keep your main character active. Though sometimes things will happen to him, you want your protagonist to be actively engaged. For instance, even though Casey traveled through time with Nate (something happened to her), her response to that is a series of things that she does.

Next post we'll look at pacing.

Crafting Your Best Story - Writing Tip #10 - Think In 45 Degree Angles

In the last post, Tackling the First Draft, we talked about how putting words on the page is like making clay—creating malleable material that you can later sculpt through revisions. It’s not important in this stage to be good, but you’ll find that the more experience you have writing first drafts, the better quality your clay becomes.

We also talked about picturing the sculpture underneath the clay. Though details and outlines up front are sometimes helpful, it’s not always the case. Story and character arcs are often revealed as you write and it’s your job to pay attention.

Another thing to pay attention to as you’re crafting your first draft is making sure you are creating tension and raising the stakes. You know how I mentioned in the last chapter that you are always asking yourself, what happens next? You don’t want to fall into the trap of this happened and then this happened and this happened.  You can’t just give us a day by day accounting of your characters life. Each event has to happen for a reason.

You also don't want to take us step by step from scene to scene, unless it's necessary to the story. If one scene ends with your main character fighting with her best friend at school, and the next scene has her at home in her room creeping her friend's facebook page you don't have to take us on the bus ride, talk to her little brother, have a snack and go to the bathroom first. Just write a transition sentence, ie: Later in my room...Afterschool, I booted up my old laptop...etc.

You’ll remember the three act structure from tip#2, The Bones It Hangs On. Here is a version of it on a 45 degree angle. 

Each scene, each plot point all way to the climax must raise the stakes for your character.

Picture your character building a snow ball while rolling it up hill. The bigger it gets, the higher the angle the more difficult life becomes for your character until ultimately, he or she gets to toss the thing off the cliff—also known as the climax.

Conflict builds tension, whether it’s inner conflict or external.

The expected thing is not the thing that should happen. To quote literary agent Donald Maass, “Tension on every page.”

Back to our example story of TWILIGHT; you’re hard pressed to find a scene that isn’t wracked with tension. Even just sitting next to a guy in a biology class has tension popping off the page. Bella is in constant threat just hanging out with Edward and his family, and the whole town is threatened (even if they don’t know it) by the arrival of the new clan of vampires. And then these two clans get into it--it’s non stop, climbing tension.

Everything happens for a reason. Each scene is necessary to propel the story forward. Life must get increasingly difficult for your protagonist.

You will probably write scenes in your first draft that don’t raise the stakes and have to be cut later on and that’s all right for now as you write your first draft. Just keep in mind that while you’re writing it, you want to go up hill.

Crafting Your Best Story - Tip #7 - Plot Point Two, The Climax, and The Beat Sheet

To wrap up the writing tips section on structure we will cover plot point two, the climax and most importantly the beat sheet.

Plot point two is very similar to plot point one. It’s a conflicting event in the story that launches the third act. At this point things are not looking very good for our protagonist at all.

In TWILIGHT the second plot point is the phone call with James in Phoenix. She's in a pickle. Lose Edward or lose her mother. When Bella decides to ditch Edward, Alice and Jasper at the airport, it thrusts the story into the third act.

In the first HARRY POTTER, the second plot point encompasses two events. Ron leads the three friends through the chest game, and then Hermione solves the riddle that gives Harry access to the chamber below. Once in the chamber we’re in act three.

In HUNGER GAMES, plot point 2 is Rue's death. Katniss experiences grief for the first time in the games and it's also the first time she kills someone. The reality and severity of her situation underscores her determination to live and to win.

The climax is the do or die scene. Everything comes to a head and it looks very dismal for our main character. We are left wondering if a happy ending is at all possible.

In TWILIGHT the climax is the fight at the dance studio. James attacks Bella and we wonder how she can ever escape his abuse and live. Then the rescuers arrive and there is an exciting fight scene. We still don’t know if the bad guy can be beaten. And then, when he is finally dead, we find that Bella has been bitten. Lots of tension here.

In HARRY POTTER, Harry has entered the chamber and finds Quirrel without his stutter and the head of Voldemort under his turban. Even in this form, Voldemort is a fearful foe and Harry has to use his wits and the stone to fight him off.

In HUNGER GAMES, Katniss and Peeta fight off the final competitor; they are the last 2 standing and the winners -- until rules changed back to only 1 victor. Now they have to make a hard choice. Instead they call the Capitol’s bluff.

One of the best craft books on structure I’ve come across is SAVE THE CAT by Blake Snyder. In it he provides a beat sheet, something they use for planning screenplays, but it’s useful for any type of fiction writing. The beats in the beat sheet will give you an idea of what you need to do to fill in your three acts.

THE BLAKE SNYDER BEAT SHEET

1. Opening Image

2.Theme stated

3.Set-up

4. Catalyst (aka Inciting Incident)

5.Debate (your character has to make an important decision)

6. Break into act two (aka Plot Point 1)

7. B story (sub-plots)

8. Fun and Games ( more stuff happens)

9. Midpoint (aka Midpoint Reversal)

10. Bad Guys Close In (doesn’t have to be actual bad guys- situation gets worse)

11. All is lost (protagonist is in a bad way)

12. Dark night of the soul (more anguish)

13. Break into act three (aka Plot Point 2)

14. Finale

15. Final Image (a reverse of the opening image) 

You have to read SAVE THE CAT to get the breakdown from Blake Snyder on all these points, but I think they are pretty self explanatory.  Keep in mind the sheet is just a guide.

Now that you have the main points plotted out for you story its time to fill it in. In the next post we'll begin with Tackling the First Draft.

Crafting Your Best Story - Writing Tip #6 - Midpoint Reversal

What is the midpoint? It’s just what it sounds like. It’s the middle of Act 2, the middle of your book, 60minutes into a 120 minute movie. As writers, when we reach the midpoint, we know we are half way there. We can go celebrate with milk and chocolate chip cookies!

It’s also the point where you’re reminded that you still have half the book to write. But you got this far, you can make it the rest of the way.

So what exactly happens at midpoint?

Well, the story got kicked started early in chapter one (within the first 30 pages) with the inciting incident. Then we gave it another push at Plot Point 1 propelling us into Act 2. The thing about Act 2 is that it’s twice as long as Act 1 and 3, so even though there’s only three acts, the midpoint gives us four equal (ish) parts.

I like the phrase I first heard coined by author Janice Harding. She calls it the midpoint reversal, because ideally, something major should happen here to completely turn the story on its head, and throw the protagonist (main character) into a tizzy. It’s the lack of such of an event that creates what’s known as the saggy middle. You’ve probably read books like that (or maybe you’ve written books like that, I know I have), where you feel like skipping pages to get back to the exciting stuff.

Here’s a free tip. It should ALL be exciting stuff.

Planning a reversal of fortunes in the middle helps to give a story that extra punch.

To go back to TWILIGHT as one of our example stories, the midpoint reversal begins at the baseball game when James and co. show up. James gets a whiff of human Bella Swan and his primal nature kicks in. He wants her. And more than that, he wants to take her away from Edward. Now there is a brand new problem and the tension soars.

Let’s look at another popular book turned movie, HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER’S(SORCERER’S) STONE.

Since we didn’t cover this in earlier chapters, let’s quickly go over the Inciting Incident and PP1.

The inciting incident in the first Harry Potter book happens when Hagrid shows up to whisk Harry away to Hoggwarts. If this event didn't happen, Harry would’ve unhappily grown up living with the Dursley’s and the rest of the story wouldn’t have unfolded.

Plot Point 1 occurs when Harry and Ron rescue Hermione from the troll. This event forges their three-way friendship.

The midpoint of the first Harry Potter book happens when the three friends get past the three-headed dog and claim the stone that Voldmort is after. This is the reversal event because possession of the stone changes their position of power (now they have it) and it makes them, and especially Harry an even greater target of Voldemort's. Now they are in real danger, and the tension amps way up.

In HUNGER GAMES the midpoint happens at the Cornicopia. The Hunger Games begin and Katniss thinks Peeta has betrayed her.

The midpoint, or any of the major structure points, doesn’t always have to be a big external event. Sometimes it’s a more subtle, internal crisis.

In CLOCKWISE, the midpoint reversal isn’t anything that other people could witness, but it’s a huge game changer for Casey. Up to this point she and Nate were growing closer together through their adventures in the past. She’d been crushing on him since the beginning, but somewhere along the line those feelings became serious. And she believed Nate’s feelings towards her had changed as well. So when they finally go back to the present and Nate barely acknowledges her presence, it’s a blow that turns Casey around and causes some serious soul searching.

This is what the scene looks like.

-He drove into the school parking lot in his rusty ’82 BMW. It was great to see him in jeans and a hoodie again. He looked tired, but hot, hot, hot.

I waited by the door, wondering what he’d say to me, hoping he’d talk first, because I had no clue what to say.

He caught my eye. His mouth pulled up slightly at the corners, a sparkle in his countenance, an acknowledgment: we shared a secret.

Then his eyes flitted over my head to his jock friends and he brushed by me with a little nod. No one else would have noted our brief communication.

That was it. Just like I knew it would be. I was beneath him. Lucinda and I, we were minions on the totem pole of Cambridge High. Nate, he was perched on the very top.--

Can you identify your midpoint?

Next post is on, you guessed it, Plot Point Two.