In a new blog post, September Fawkes examines plot points and what happens when your story doesn’t have any. “A plot point is also called a ‘turning point’ or a ‘plot turn,'” she says. “The story was going one direction and then wham! an action is taken or information is revealed, and the story is now going a new direction.”
A strong plot point will always change the protagonist’s direction. It must have consequences, or it isn’t a plot point. The climax will be the biggest turning point, but it shouldn’t be the only one in your story. Each act and most scenes should have a turning point, Fawkes writes. “The difference is that the smaller the unit, the smaller the turn, and the smaller the impact,” she says. In other words, a scene-level plot point might nudge your protagonist in a new direction, but a major act-level point will alter their course. You might have 2 – 4 major plot points before your climax, including the inciting incident.
What if you don’t have enough plot points? Nothing, really. Characters may move in time and space, but not emotionally. They may accidentally get nearer their goal but without obstacles, or their actions may feel contrived. Your story may become slow and predictable.
Most beginning writers understand the inciting incident and the climax. Without an inciting incident, your characters never move from their status quo. Imagine Star Wars if Luke’s aunt and uncle never died and he never left the farm. Or imagine the film if it ended before the destruction of the Death Star. The audience would have experienced a long journey without an end.
However, a lot still needs to happen between those two points. A novel that lacks mid-point dramatic turns probably suffers from muddy middle syndrome. Scenes may repeat as characters encounter the same obstacles in different forms. Their emotional state doesn’t change. They are never pushed off-course or given the chance to learn something new.
The same thing can happen if the plot points aren’t significant enough. The story might change a bit, but not dramatically. An act-level plot point should alter your protagonist’s thinking, relationships, or worldview in some way.
Scene-level plot points should nudge the character. For example, your protagonist may gain an ally or learn new information. However, be careful that you aren’t creating a circle. You don’t want your protagonist to end a scene in the same place as they started. “The scenes between act-level plot points should also be progressing the story,” Fawkes writes. “If they aren’t, and they are secretly filler, the journey through each act is going to feel like a monotonous march.”
