Writing Your Story from the Middle––Part VII
A “mirror moment” is the middle of your story. Usually, when we think of this, it’s for the Lead character, and it helps to change them from where they started, to where they end up. An antagonist also has a “mirror moment.” When he or she makes a decision to change for the worse, instead of for the better. Click to Tweet #amwriting #writefromthemiddle
What would cause a person to transform from a “good” person to a “bad” person? Someone who hasn’t broken the law, to an outlaw? Or kindness to cruelty? What happened in their story?
James Scott Bell talks about a “Golden Triangle” of a character. They start out in what is called “pre-story psychology.” In other words, the character is a certain way before the main story starts…before that opening disturbance that causes the character to go on a journey.
The middle point of the journey is the “mirror moment.” The decisions the character makes in their self-reflection will determine their journey from that time forward. That’s called “character transformation.”
The character can go from negative to positive, or vice versa. The object of any story is the character transformation. How did that person, who started out one way, become someone different?
The antagonist will make a decision that will affect their character in a negative way, that they see as a positive change, or an inevitable one.
Example: The Godfather. Michael, who was the “good” son, changes into someone totally unrecognizable. Someone who kills for business, who lies to his wife. It was the result of a series of “smaller” decisions he made to compromise his prior set of beliefs, in order to bring what he thought was “justice.”
To me, that’s a terrible waste of a good character. What I’m about is bringing transformation from “bad” to “good.” For me, that means, bringing a character from negative choices to positive, eventually resulting in their decision to follow Jesus, like I do.
A villain has a “mirror moment.” Where they decide to break the law, compromise their positive beliefs, or go with their selfish desires in order to oppose the protagonist. Click to Tweet #amwriting #writefromthemiddle
I’ve done some transformation myself this year. Not from evil to good, but from better-to-better. Have you? Leave a comment and let me know.
Donna L.H. Smith 