I was going to talk about the Black Moment this week. Then I decided to back up and talk about the Dark Moment. There’s a certain order to things crafting a novel. So there’s no sense in talking about the What and Why of the Black Moment if we haven’t tackled the What and Why of the Dark Moment.

What: Dark Moment

This is a specific negative event in a character’s past that shapes them into the person they are today.  Heads Up: This next part is crucial. You recreate the Dark Moment in the Black Moment. More on that in my next What and Why column on the Black Moment.

Why:

Determining the Dark Moments is essential in developing both your hero and heroine. Out of the Dark Moment comes their:

•Wound, which causes them to act a certain way

•Lie, which they believe is true – and which you ultimately replace with God’s truth.

Here’s a key point about the Dark Moment: It has to be s-p-e-c-i-f-i-c.

Saying “My hero had a rough childhood” or “My heroine is afraid of the water” doesn’t cut it. We have to know why, why, why. (Y’all hear Rachel Hauck yet?) To do that, go back to an actual experience your character lived through. Think:

•Date (How old was your character when the Dark Moment happened? Hint: Try to have this happen sometime before the end of high school or mid-college years.)

•People (Who else was involved with the Dark Moment?)

•Location (Where was your character?)

•Details (What happened? Write in Storyworld and dialogue.)

•Results (Why was this so hurtful to your character?)

Example: Let’s say your heroine is afraid of the water. Why? When she was twelve, her family was vacationing in Destin, FL. She was supposed to keep an eye on her six-year-old sister. They were playing in the waves and before she knew it, they both got caught in a riptide. The lifeguard rescued her – but her sister drowned.  Your heroine feels as if she caused her sister’s death. Dark Moment, yes? I would go into more detail as I plotted my story, but for the sake of today’s word count, I kept it brief. But I did hit: date, people, location, details and results.

How well have you sketched out your hero’s and heroine’s Dark Moments?

***

MBT’s Skills Coach, Beth K. Vogt provides her readers with a happily ever after woven through with humor, reality, and God’s lavish grace. Her debut novel, Wish You Were Here, will be published in May 2012 by Howard Books. She’s also written Baby Changes Everything: Embracing and Preparing for Motherhood after 35 for Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) International and is a consulting editor for their magazine, MomSense, and a bimonthly columnist for MOMSnext, an e-zine for moms of school-age children.