Welcome to day three, and this one’s a real treat. I’ve been getting up early to read your scenes each morning, and it’s become my favourite part of the day, so thank you! Keep them coming.
Today: the midpoint
I teach the midpoint a little differently from most people. You’ll often hear it described as the moment a final trial breaks the Hero. I see it as a false victory.
By now your Hero has been through several tests and trials, and here, at the middle of the book, they win the big one. They think they’ve got exactly what they’ve been chasing, and they let their guard down. It’s the high point, the summit, the moment they believe the story is over.
But it’s a false summit.
The win is real enough to celebrate, and yet it’s hollow, because they won it the old way, using the very flaw they’ve carried since the ordinary world. There’s no true victory until they transform, and they haven’t transformed yet. This is the last time that flaw will ever work for them.
Think of Woody taking charge to win his place back: it works in the moment, but it can’t hold. Don’t tell us any of this is false yet. Just let your Hero, and your reader, stand on the summit. Tomorrow we push them off it.
Here’s the false victory in stories you know:
The Hunger Games: Katniss and Peeta raise the poison berries, the Capitol changes the rules to let them both live, and she races to him certain they’ve won.
Barbie: she heads home sure she’s about to restore her perfect, plastic world.
Toy Story: Buzz is certain he’s a real space ranger who can save the day.
Each one is a summit, and each one is about to give way.
How to write it
Five steps, and keep it to one or two pages:
1. Name what your Hero wants most right now. This is the surface want the flaw keeps chasing, a different thing from what they truly need.
2. Let them get it. Or bring them within touching distance, and let them get it the old way, through the flaw.
3. Make us believe it’s a victory. Give it real weight, and let us celebrate right alongside them.
4. Hide the flaw inside the win. Tuck the reason it can’t last somewhere in plain sight, so we feel the wrongness without being told.
5. End on the height. Stop at the top of the celebration. The fall is tomorrow.
A few things to watch:
Build the summit as high as you can, because the higher they stand, the harder they fall tomorrow.
Don’t let your Hero win by changing, they haven’t transformed yet, and that comes on day five.
And don’t explain that the victory is false. Trust your reader to feel it.
Your challenge for today
Write your midpoint scene! One to two pages, no more. Bring us in on the celebration, take us to the very top of it, and give us that false victory before we tear it all down tomorrow.
To send it to me:
write it in a Google Doc with the permissions open, click the button below, and pop your name and the link into the form.
Then come back here and comment to let me know that you’ve submitted, and close your doc.
Once I’ve left your feedback I’ll like your comment, and that’s your cue to open it back up and read.
(Remember: This is same-day only, so get it to me before midnight tonight. If you’ve submitted, I’ll have your feedback back to you by 8am!)
Any questions, leave them in the comments below.
See you tomorrow at 5am for day four, the collision. Bring your evil streak. (Mwuah ha ha)
Xx Shelly
