Yesterday we talked about the elements of the Black Moment – gathering up the pieces. Today, let’s put them together!
First, you need to start with…The Hint… At the beginning of every great novel, or movie, there is a hint at what a character’s greatest fears might be.
It can be something they experience and never want to repeat. It can be something a friend has gone through. It can be something they witness…but we need to see if (even if we don’t recognize it as the hint…although now you will!) Because it will give us that dark foreboding we need to make the fear seem…well, dark.
One of my favorite hints is in a movie called The Hostage…the hero is negotiating the release of a small boy. The boy is killed and the hero is completely undone by this. Of course, later, in the black moment, the very thing happens again – only with his son.
But here’s an easier, less traumatic one…
In How to Lose a Guy in 10 days….the heroine finds her friend crying, overwhelmed with a breakup.
Or, how about in another Matthew M. movie, Fools’ Gold — the bad guys tie him up and leave him for dead…showing how evil they are. Or…it’s also him showing up late to his divorce..and losing the girl. Another hint at the black moment.
The next thing we need is the Set Up.
Then, we need someone or something to actually SAY it…or Set it up. The Set Up confronts the possibility that it could happen, and how the hero might react to it.
It also takes away that element of, “didn’t they see that coming? Oh, they’re too stupid to live.” Yes – they did see it coming, but they dismissed it! It makes the story believable.
Rachel Hauck incorporated the Hint and the Set Up in her novel The Sweet By and By when the heroine, at the beginning, doesn’t want to invite her mother to the wedding because she thinks she’ll make a mess of it. She hints, but she also voices her fears.
The set up actually voices the Black Moment in some way… and then dismisses it.
Sort of like when Frodo asks at the end of movie #2….what if we fail? “Don’t say that Mr. Frodo! We have to believe!”
We need to know that the black moment/greatest fear is possible…so having someone acknowledge it in some way is a key element to building it.
So…you can Hint…and then Set It Up. Or combine them…but at some point we need to understand what that Black Moment would look like, at least in part.
Then, of course, we have the Event.
And it needs to be clear and happen near the end of the story, when all seems lost (but before the Storm the Castle ending!)
(Storm the Castle is the climatic ending of the book – where our hero finally confronts and triumphs over the villain, real or imagined)
Give us enough time – usually 3 chapters before the end – to really understand the black moment, and then see our character grow from it. A black moment that happens too close to the end does give us enough room for the character change that happens as a result of it. Likewise, it can’t happen too soon, or there isn’t enough tension in the story.
In a romance, the Event also leads into the romance Black Moment – that realization that they can’t be together. So, as you’re building it, ask: how will this event kill their love?
(Note: I write 20 chapter books, so the Black Moment Event usually happens around chapter 17. 3 chapters from the end.)
It might be chapter 16, too, but if it is chapter 19, you might not have enough room to finish the story with the climatic ending.
The thing is we need the space in the Black Moment so we can have the “I wish I never….” Meaning, the black moment EVENT will lead to an emotional and spiritual crisis.
Often, this can happen before the Black Moment Event – and the Black Moment confirms that your hero was right.
Or the “I wish I never” moment can happen during the black moment…right before the epiphany. Both are useful placements. But this moment is key. The reason your character asks this is because we need him to see that he’s become a better person in the journey – it’s a moment of self-evaluation that gives him the vision to go forward.
In one of my favorite movies that I use often, Cellular, my hero, near the end, asks himself “Why did I answer the phone?” (see, he’s connected by Cell phone to a kidnapped woman, which eventually leads to all sorts of trouble for him).
The answer is…because he IS a hero!
And, even if he wants to quit – he can’t. Maybe he realizes this, or maybe someone else along the way needs to tell him the truth… This question helps you build the emotional response to the black moment.
So…after your Black Moment Event (or before it, depending on how you want to do this), have him want to give up…have him “wish I never!”
But you also need a physical response to the Black Moment Event…what does your character do now?
I refer to this as the Fish or Cut bait moment. Or…when the going gets tough…what does your character do?
(For people who have taken the best-selling fiction or story-crafters class..it’s that “security” element of your character’s self esteem) During that moment when he’s thinking….I wish I never…he should also have a moment where he has to decide whether he’s going to turn around and go home…or fight the final battle.
We see this in movies like The Patriot, where our hero Benjamin Martin is going to get on his son’s horse and ride away. Or when, in Return to Me, our hero actually walks away from the woman he loves.
In the former, we see that in this moment, Benjamin Martin becomes a true Hero. In Return to Me, our hero becomes a cad…but suffers for it, and then rises to the occasion. You CAN have your hero turn back….as long as on the road home they turn around and run back toward the happy ending.
(I did this in Happily Ever After – Joe turns away from his heroic moment…but returns to it later, after his “storm the castle” moment)
So…ask your character: When the going gets tough, what do you do?
Finally, you end with the Epiphany….which is where we’re going to end because I’m going to talk about that NEXT week!
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 next week!
Susie May