'nother Mike (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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writercises2022-07-02 04:18 pm
mbarker) wrote in writercises2022-07-02 04:18 pm
TECH: Super Structure: The Mirror Moment (part 13) (570 words)
Original Posting: March 13, 2019
All right! So, we got through Act I, stepped through The Doorway of No Return #1, got kicked in the shins… And some other stuff happened. Then, we hit The Mirror Moment.James Scott Bell has a whole book just about this beat, called Write Your Novel from the Middle. Basically, he was puzzled by the books about writing craft talking about the midpoint, and decided to check it out himself. So, he looked at some movies. Smack in the middle of Casablanca, The Fugitive, Lethal Weapon, and Moonstruck, he found the mirror moment. Then he took a look around the middle of several books, including The Hunger Games and Gone with the Wind."What I found was a moment where the main character has to figuratively look at himself as in a mirror. He is confronted by a disturbing truth: change or die."Now, James says that the mirror moment actually comes in two slightly different flavors.1. Who am I? What have I become? What do I have to do to change? (Self appraisal)2. I can't possibly win this. I'm going to die. (Situation or odds are against me)The main character looks into the mirror and decides to grow, to be different, to be better, to be stronger, to survive!James suggests that the mirror moment shapes everything else in the story. This is the crux that everything before it has been leading up to, and changes everything after it.Why do we need this? Well, James considers this the heart of your story. It helps you determine what kind of story you are telling. It's the lens that takes everything in front of it and focuses it into creating the rest of the story.How do you figure it out? Well, James suggests that outliners start by thinking about how they tackle coming up with ideas for scenes. Start by brainstorming the mirror moment. Then use that to help you come up with the other scenes.Pantsers or discovery writers? Go ahead and write a while. But when you are 5 to 10,000 words in, stop and brainstorm a mirror moment. Write that up, fill in that scene. Now, use that insight to go ahead and write the rest of your story.James ends with a reminder. Often, in life, big changes occur during a crisis. Fiction is all about a character who is fighting life-threatening challenges, and, through force of will, is being transformed. The mirror moment puts that transformation, that conflict between who I am and who I want to be, between the overwhelming situation and the drive to survive, solidly and squarely in front of the character. That's why this is a key moment in your story.Wow! That's exciting. And it's about halfway through the story. So between The Doorway of No Return #1, closely followed by the Kick in the Shins, and The Mirror Moment, we've got some other scenes. Complications, side quests, building tension and conflict. And then… The character looks in the mirror and faces their own transformation, sees the odds and realizes they could lose, comes face-to-face with the real issue of the story.Go ahead, brainstorm that mirror moment. What faces your character when they look into the magic mirror? What are the odds against them? Come up with several possibilities, and then pick the one that makes your character shine.Next, we'll get to pet the dog! Nice doggie!
All right! So, we got through Act I, stepped through The Doorway of No Return #1, got kicked in the shins… And some other stuff happened. Then, we hit The Mirror Moment.James Scott Bell has a whole book just about this beat, called Write Your Novel from the Middle. Basically, he was puzzled by the books about writing craft talking about the midpoint, and decided to check it out himself. So, he looked at some movies. Smack in the middle of Casablanca, The Fugitive, Lethal Weapon, and Moonstruck, he found the mirror moment. Then he took a look around the middle of several books, including The Hunger Games and Gone with the Wind."What I found was a moment where the main character has to figuratively look at himself as in a mirror. He is confronted by a disturbing truth: change or die."Now, James says that the mirror moment actually comes in two slightly different flavors.1. Who am I? What have I become? What do I have to do to change? (Self appraisal)2. I can't possibly win this. I'm going to die. (Situation or odds are against me)The main character looks into the mirror and decides to grow, to be different, to be better, to be stronger, to survive!James suggests that the mirror moment shapes everything else in the story. This is the crux that everything before it has been leading up to, and changes everything after it.Why do we need this? Well, James considers this the heart of your story. It helps you determine what kind of story you are telling. It's the lens that takes everything in front of it and focuses it into creating the rest of the story.How do you figure it out? Well, James suggests that outliners start by thinking about how they tackle coming up with ideas for scenes. Start by brainstorming the mirror moment. Then use that to help you come up with the other scenes.Pantsers or discovery writers? Go ahead and write a while. But when you are 5 to 10,000 words in, stop and brainstorm a mirror moment. Write that up, fill in that scene. Now, use that insight to go ahead and write the rest of your story.James ends with a reminder. Often, in life, big changes occur during a crisis. Fiction is all about a character who is fighting life-threatening challenges, and, through force of will, is being transformed. The mirror moment puts that transformation, that conflict between who I am and who I want to be, between the overwhelming situation and the drive to survive, solidly and squarely in front of the character. That's why this is a key moment in your story.Wow! That's exciting. And it's about halfway through the story. So between The Doorway of No Return #1, closely followed by the Kick in the Shins, and The Mirror Moment, we've got some other scenes. Complications, side quests, building tension and conflict. And then… The character looks in the mirror and faces their own transformation, sees the odds and realizes they could lose, comes face-to-face with the real issue of the story.Go ahead, brainstorm that mirror moment. What faces your character when they look into the magic mirror? What are the odds against them? Come up with several possibilities, and then pick the one that makes your character shine.Next, we'll get to pet the dog! Nice doggie!