The plot of your story is the series of events that unfolds from the beginning to the end, explaining not only what happens to and around the characters in your story but the causality of those happenings, how one thing leads to another to another.
More than a chronological timeline of events, though, your story’s plot must include key turning points, which move your characters through the story milestone by milestone. In his book, Story Engineering, author Larry Brooks describes three key turning points linking the four parts of story: Inciting incident, midpoint incident, and concluding incident.
Let’s unpack these turning points and discuss their relationship to the plot at large and work through a few additional plot questions for consideration.
The Inciting Incident Kicks Off the Story
You may have heard it’s best to begin your story with a change of some kind. An early change — in the first sentence, paragraph, or scene — sets the tone of change, growth, and development over the length of the story and tells readers what kind of story they’re getting into. And an early change is important because the humdrum of the day-to-day isn’t exactly riveting; humans are naturally inclined to seek intrigue and drama.
When a change happens to a character right away, we humans want to know what’s going on, how the event will change that character’s day, what kind of challenges the situation will present for them, and how they’ll navigate. Your reader needs some lead time to get to know and like your character before they’re going to care about the inciting decision your character will make, and the early change allows readers to observe your character as they move through their day, interacting with others, and making things happen (or allowing things to happen).
Once readers get to know your main character, they’ll naturally want to know why your main character has been selected for heroism. The inciting incident is the reason your hero is part of the story and effectively launches your hero into the story by forcing a decision. The character’s need to decide, to act, will usher your hero along their mission path
During the inciting incident, which occurs (according to Brooks) somewhere around the 25% mark, you will:
- Define your hero’s need and mission going forward
- Provide a sudden shift, be it a new deal, a new path, or another form of newness that persuades your hero to act upon the new thing.
The Midpoint Incident Changes the Context of the Story
The midpoint incident is the point at which your hero’s overall mission changes. Here, your hero faces an unexpected twist and receives new information that changes their understanding and contextual experience of their mission path.
Up until this point, your hero has been enjoying the journey. They’ve made some moves, seen some cool things, perhaps they’ve gotten into a bit of mischief or are planning for the next battle of one kind of another. But the proverbial wrench is tossed into the gears at the midpoint incident because something your hero thought they knew turned out to be a bald-faced lie, a half-truth, or some fraud that signals the point of no return.
Your character undergoes a crisis, either physically, emotionally, or spiritually – or, bonus, all three – that causes them to wake up to what is truly needed to reverse their misfortune and pursue the right actions to get to the end state they desire (or that they believe will help them reach that desired end state). It is at the midpoint incident that your hero realizes nothing will ever be the same.
During the midpoint incident, which occurs around the 50% mark, you will:
- Provide a change that alters the hero’s (and the reader’s) understanding of what is going on.
- Empower your hero to move from wandering along the path to becoming a hero and threshing their own path forward.
The Concluding Incident Marks the Hero’s Transformation
The concluding incident is the last time your hero receives new information along their mission path, the moment at which your hero learns something so profound, so critical, to the story that the only thing they can do is act upon the information, using their newfound rage or pride or optimism to resolve the situation at hand and bring the story to a close, though the story itself is far from over.
In many cases, this is the point at which your hero finds themself truly alone. Their mentor or accomplice has disappeared, allies have faded away, and all that’s left is the hero’s stamina and strength of will. Your hero must buck up, rebound, and pull together every last stitch of resolve they have to stay the course, or they risk losing everything, even themselves.
From this point on, the only changes left to come are those transformative changes that cement your hero as the hero of their own story and ultimately shifts your story so that your hero can solve the problem they’re facing and neatly resolve the mission path for your readers.
During the concluding incident, which occurs around the 75% mark, you will:
- Springboard your hero into the final boss battle and equip them for the coming denouement
- Unleash a piece of new information for your hero that is powerful and meaningful, both for resolving the problem but also to build for them a new understanding.
Additional Questions and Considerations for Plotting Well
If the plot is the what, then the why and how combined make up the story in which your hero finds themself, and it is the blending of plot and story that make readers want to invest in your hero’s experience, to want to root for them, to see them through to the end.
While the turning points are necessary for developing the character’s relationship to the overall story, there are many questions you can ask yourself while writing or revising that will help work through potential plot-story issues. I like the SMART goals framework for plot and character-goals development:
- Specific – Your hero must pursue a specific and tangible goal. So, what specific and tangible thing does your hero want?
- Measurable – Readers like to see your hero’s progress toward their goal. How can you measure progress along your character’s path?
- Attainable – Your readers need to believe your character can achieve their goal. What resources and capabilities make this goal achieveable?
- Relevant – Your character must be motivated to pursue their goal. Why is your character pursuing that goal, and what will achievement give them?
- Time-based – Time’s passing has a way of getting folks into gear by creating tension. Why does your hero feel that meeting their goal is urgent or emergent?
Beyond SMART goals, here are a few extra plot-focused questions to wake up your noodler:
- Who is behind each of the incidents in your story? What do they get out of promoting the incident and causing the hero to act?
- What is the most important thing your readers should know about your hero and the secondary and supporting characters in their world?
- What does your hero stand to gain or lose at the conclusion of your story? Why do the prospective gains excite them? Why do the losses scare them?
TL;DR: Turning-point incidents make up your base plot
When starting your story or when working through story revisions, write down the three turning points that will ultimately construct your overarching plot. The inciting incident must lead to the midpoint incident must lead to the concluding incident. How do these three story moments connect for your hero? How does each moment change your hero? And in what ways does your hero remain the same despite all the changes around them?
Happy writing!
<3 Fal
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Fallon Clark is the book pal who helps you tell your story in your words and voice using editorial, coaching, writing, and project management expertise for revision assistance, one-on-one guidance, and ghostwriting for development. Her writing has been published in Flash Fiction Magazine. Check out her website, FallonClark.com, or connect with her on LinkedIn or Substack.