I love the black moment in a novel.  (or a movie!)  I just saw Avatar…(so, spoiler alert!!)) The black moment is when the humans come after the blue people in the tree and take it down despite his efforts to stop it.  Of course, he’s lost the girl, he’s lost all hope of getting his legs back, and all hope of being a blue person, too.  He’s a nobody.  Just like he was when he started.  This is a great black moment, and one where we are fully invested to root for him as  he tries to save the day. 

 

A great black moment is Personal and Overwhelming.  It’s also Plausible and sets up the Epiphany of the novel.  We’ll talk about the components of the black moment first, and then how to set up it. 

 

But first, what is the Black Moment?

 

Oh, good question—maybe we should stop and define it. The black moment occurs in the beginning of the third act, the end of the second act. It’s when the worst possible thing happens, their greatest fear coming true, and when the lie they believe seems overwhelming.

 

It’s that point in the novel when everything seems lost, and they should all quit and go home. Let’s stop here and name some classic black moments, just so we can identify them. The black moment in Lord Of The Rings is when they are on Mount Mordor and they can’t go on (Frodo can’t make it).

 

The Black Moment in Return to Me is when she finds out she has his wife’s heart (and also the same for him—although it occurs later.)

 

How to Lose a Guy in 10 days… it’s “You’re so vain!”  and the fight afterward (after they’d both fallen in love).

 

So, the Black Moment should occur in the last part of the book….before the final sequence of events (that I call the final battle).  And it should involved the physical, emotional and spiritual climax of the book. 

 

But what are the components of the Black Moment? 

 

A great Black Moment is Personal. 

 

            The key to a great Black Moment is that it must be specific to the character.  One character’s Black Moment will not be the same as another’s.  (although they can align over the same event, they will perceive them differently). 

 

For example:  In a romance, you may decide to combine the black moment so it relates to both characters.  In my book Expect the Sunrise, the event that causes the Black Moment is the kidnapping of the heroine.  Of course it affects them in different ways – the heroine is besieged with guilt that she didn’t listen to the hero’s warnings, and the hero realizes that he’s been right all along and should have stood his ground.  Both of them realize in that moment how much they love each other and don’t want to lose each other.  And, it contributes to each of the character’s personal lies – Andee can’t get past the guilt of her regrets, and Mac believes he will never make a good decision (that he can’t have love AND do his job). 

 

One black moment, used differently in each of the character’s lives. 

 

However, maybe you only have one character on the page.  Then, you can strike at the heart of the character without worrying about the others.   In my recent book, Double Trouble, the black moment for my heroine, PJ, is when her family is nearly killed because of her sleuthing, and her sister throws her out of the house.  Her worst fear is to be rejected, again, and even more, to have someone pay for her curiosity.  So….I make that happen.  If I were in the POV of either of my heroes, then I would play off of the fact that not long after this, the killer catches up to PJ…and their worst fears are, of course, that she’d get hurt.  But this is THEIR Black Moment, not hers.

 

How do you make a Black Moment PERSONAL:

 

Go back to that moment in their past that we keep talking about, that event in their past that has wounded them deeply and told them a lie about life and/or faith.  Then, figure out what from this moment is their Greatest Fear?   You’ll be taking this and boiling it down to the emotional component of this fear…and then figuring out a way to bring it onstage. 

For example, my hero in Expect the Sunrise is an FBI agent who got his brother killed because he went after a terrorist he saw while out fishing with his brother.  From this, he fears getting someone else killed.  But he also fears letting a terrorist get away.  So…I have both of these things happen.

 

Since the beginning of the story, you should have been hinting at this fear, and been slowly pushing him to this place.  You know that Frodo fears succumbing to the ring, or worse, his own hobbitness.  You know that Bourne fears he’ll never be more than an assassin.  You know that Richard Kimball fears letting his wife’s killer go free.  We know this because we’ve asked hard questions, and we’ve figured out what is at stake for our hero.  So, now, to put it in Jean-Luc Picard language  – make it so.  

 

So, let’s back it up and take apart the black moment a bit…what is the event in YOUR character’s past that has wounded them?  What lie do they believe as a result of this event? 

 

Now, let’s make it overwhelming. Ask:  What, from this event is his greatest fear?  How can you make this happen again? 

 

 

The Black Moment is also Plausible.

 

The key to a Black Moment is that it should be unexpected…but it should also be something that COULD happen.   It must make sense for the movie/situation/character.  Whatever Black Moment you choose, it must be something that could happen – for example, even though I didn’t love the new Indiana Jones movie  (despite Shai LeBeouf) the Black Moment did work.  Because, even though I didn’t like the crystal skulls coming to life to suck out people’s brains through their eyeballs, and then vanish on a spaceship, it was pretty classic Indiana Jones.  After all, in previous movies, the Ark came alive and punched out people’s souls, and then there was the melting man who “chose poorly” in the Last Crusade.  So, even though I didn’t like the premise the screenwriters DID build up enough plausibility for it to happen.  And, let’s admit it – it was sort of unexpected (and creepy!)  So, you can get away with crazy out of this world Black Moments if you build up the plausibility.

 

In Expect the Sunrise, the Black Moment is plausible because 1. Andee and Mac have already discussed the possibility (and dismissed it), and 2. Going back through the storyline, we see how the pieces built, even though Mac didn’t see them.  I also took an event (the bombing of the Alaskan pipeline) that had nearly happened.  So…everything about the event was plausible.

So, you should ask: Is my Black Moment plausible?

 

Finally, a Black Moment should lead up to a Healing Epiphany. 

 

Right after the Black Moment, you want the hero to look back to his mistakes, and see what he did wrong.  And then, comes to some truth that will open a new door to a new future. This means the Black Moment will have to have some sort of spiritual element or attack their values (what they believe) in some way so that their foundation is shaken and they are ready to hear the truth. 

 

One of my favorite movies is Planes, Trains and Automobiles.  Love it…and cried during the epiphany where Steve Martin realizes that John Candy has lied to him…and has no place to go.  And all the annoyance is put aside by his gratefulness that he has a family to return home to.  His perspective is changed and he’s forever a changed man, just in time for the holidays.

 

In Expect the Sunrise, my hero’s lie is that he can’t be an effective FBI agent if he is in a relationship.  He thinks emotions get in the way of clear thinking (eg: if his brother hadn’t been there, he might have been able to do his job without worrying about his brother- something that contributed to his brothers’ death).  When the girl he loves is kidnapped, right under his nose, he blames the fact that he was “distracted with love.”  J 

 

Make sure your Black Moment, in some way, attacks their core beliefs, or values, and then you’ll be set up for the Epiphany!  (and next week’s chat!) 

 

So… Ask:  What lie does your hero believe and how does the Black Moment make the lie seem overwhelming? 

 

(More on the Lie journey next week!)

 

So, now all you need to do is set up the Black Moment!  Stop by tomorrow and we’ll continue the discussion!

 

 

A couple things:

1. Don’t forget to stop by the Voices Magazine!  http://voicesmag.mybooktherapy.com Lisa Jordan and her team have put together an amazing issue about characters.  It’s everything you need to know about building great characters.

 

2. Chip and I have one more Best-selling Fiction seminar this year – and intensive course on how to write a best-selling novel.  Here’s some words from our last seminar:

 

“I enrolled in this class because I needed to learn how to make my stories commercially successful—to go from good to great! I believe I was given the tools to make this happen. The next step is for me to incorporate what I learned!” ~ from Julie.

 

You can find out more at www.themasterseminars.com 

 

3. We have 3 more openings to the POLISH Conference (that’s polish, like in making your manuscript shine!)  Go to: http://polish.mybooktherapy.com 

 

It’s about proposal, promotion and pitch!

 

And, if you have questions about creating a black moment, go to the MBT Club Voices and post them here. 

 

See you tomorrow!

Susie May