We’re revisiting the Black Moment today, but instead of looking at the External Black Moment, driven by the Greatest Fears, we’re going to look at the internal Black Moment…driven by the lie. I’m just going to say it, and I’m using my Mom tone. The Black Moment is the POINT of your story. Because without the Black Moment, there is no epiphany and no character change, and if you are writing a romance, it is Absolutely Required. If you don’t have a black moment in your story, then you don’t have a story. Sorry if that hurts…BUT, we’re going to fix it, right? Last week, we talked about Steps 1-4 of the Lie Journey, or the inner journey of the Black Moment. As a recap: Step 1 – Spiritual […]
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Continuing the Inner Journey…creating tension in the middle of your novel!
Yesterday we started our character’s spiritual journey by asking: What lie do they believe? (by the way, I often use this when chatting with children, or eve myself when confronted with behaviors that might not be healthy…it’s a good exercise!) Armed with the lie, the first thing you want to do on the journey, probably in that first scene is PROVE IT to your hero. (a note here – every POV character needs their own lie journey!) Step 2 – Confirmation of the Lie – Proof What can you do to convince the hero that his lie is true? You want to do something at the beginning of the book that will cement him into this lie – of course, it needs to be something that only pushes him deeper […]
Read the RestThe Inner Journey of your Suspense character
We’re discussing ACT 3 of a Suspense! Last week we broke apart the Black Moment. This week and next, we’re going to talk about the second part of the Black Moment…the inner journey element. The purpose of every story is the inner change of the POV characters. The external events are simply a catalyst to drive home the changes the characters need to make. At MBT, we call this the Lie Journey. As an overview, the premise of the Lie Journey is that every character has a lie they believe, based on something that happened in their past. This lie has determined their behavior and choices until the start of their journey. However, this journey is about breaking that lie and helping your character become a better person, or at […]
Read the RestHow to set up and deliver the Suspense Black Moment.
Yesterday, we talked about the substance of the Black Moment and how to craft it, making it Personal, Plausible and it leads up to the Epiphany of the novel. But, how do you deliver such a Black Moment? 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 […]
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