NOVEL STRUCTURE: THAT SECOND PINCH POINT. OUCH, RIGHT?
Write Better Now
So, we’ve been talking the past two weeks a lot about novel structure and pinch points. And today? Well, today, we’re going to talk about the dastardly second pinch point.
For a quick reminder of what a pinch point is, Larry Brooks just defines pinch points as “An example, or reminder, of the nature and implications of the antagonist force, that is not filtered by the hero’s experience.”
So, it’s a place in your structure where tension goes up because we’re reminded of just how bad the baddy in the story is.
The Second Pinch Point Some Quick Facts:
This occurs 62% of the way into the story.
That means it is after the middle (midpont) of your novel, but before that third plot point.
It is still in the second act of a three-act story.
Right before the second pinch point, in most novels, there’s some new action going on. Or as K.M. Weiland explains:
“Armed with the new understanding he acquired at the Midpoint, the protagonist charges into the Second Half of the Second Act. He’s no longer in reaction mode. He now understands what needs to be done to defeat the antagonist, and he aggressively takes action in pursuing his goal. Thanks to his new understanding, he begins making headway against the antagonistic force.”
But, yeah . . . no
That headway can’t continue in an all positive manner. We authors are evil to our heroes. This is the place in our story where we show that there’s a big bad guy (or force) and we hint (foreshadow) what that third plot point is going to be.
“There are big stakes!” this pinch point tells us. “HOLD ON! THEY ARE COMING!”
And for a lot of novels, this is a place where our hero has to decide what they will risk, what they will do, what price they might pay to get that big baddy in their place and finally get their own goal.
That means that right after this? That’s when we head to that third plot point (usually 75% of the way in). Third plot points are usually the most horrible of all plot points. The defeat here is huge. They have really lost. Things are terrible! TERRIBLE!
And it all amps up the hero and the reader for that third act where they get to have the final confrontation and get their goals and defeat the bad guy (positive arc) or not (negative arc).
Over on Write It Scared, they explain,
”The second pinch point is very similar to the first, only bigger. We see an even darker, deeper, scarier side to the antagonistic force. Remember, the antagonist force can be the bad guy, a bad situation, or a bad internal trait of the protagonist.”
And they give some tips:
“Understand the antagonistic force in your story: What does it want and why? For more info- check out this article on crafting meaning conflict.
Show the muscle: Show how deep and dark the opposing force really is.
Think of how you can reveal the intention of your antagonist force that foreshadows what will come next.
It doesn’t need to be a huge moment, and your protagonist doesn’t have to be there for it (though they often are).”