Beyond 'And Then This Happened': Crafting Memorable Story Structure
The Lull Before the Story Storm
Hi and welcome into Flight School:
This is the ongoing teaching series from the serialization of The Summer of ‘72.
We’ve now arrived, structurally, at the climactic action. It’s a glorious day to get to this point in a book because it’s pretty much smooth sailing to the glorious words: The End.
A block away from where I stand is that corner where I shoved Rick on that terrible night when I drove back from Tacoma. She’s just a little girl, I had said, weeping and out of control. Now, before a oversized mailbox bolted to the sidewalk, I still don’t know what I was saying but I trust that I am a step closer by telling this truth. I’m drafting on Abrams insight and understanding while also fully aware that this complaint, filed at this time, will blow everything up. Any chance of keeping the house will vanish. Rick could, and might, sue me (for what, I don’t know, but that’s what I’m thinking) or worse, he might come after me in a much more aggressive way. Who knows? Who knows? And standing there, I’m scared at what I’m about to do to myself and my kids...and yet…
A cop car flies past, flashing blue and red lights. Behind me, the rich nutty smell from The Heart Cafe. Across the way, kids let out from an alternative school—nudging and shoving at one another.
On the mailbox, the time of collection is posted at 2:00 p.m. It’s now 1:45 p.m. And, life goes on all around me to include the vision of another hurt and confused woman sitting in the waiting room of Rick’s clinic, hoping to heal, and being called to follow him down a long hall to an exam room.
I grab the cold metal handle. Tug. The mailbox door whines open. I slide the envelope into the mouth of the box, hold it there on the edge for a long moment. And in an act of blind faith, shove it inside.
This is the moment when the lull leads to the climax and again, now it’s all fast race to our ending!
Let’s define our terms:
Lull:
As any dictionary will tell you, this is “a period of quiet or calm in a longer period of activity or excitement” and within your story, this means that things “slow down.” In a movie, you’ll note the lull almost always comes three quarters of the way in and is signified by music playing and the protagonist looking off into some landscape appropriate to the setting like the saguaros in a desert story (Thelma and Louise), taking a walk (Regarding Henry), or sitting on a bus and reading a book (Stranger Than Fiction). In a book, or a movie, or any well crafted story the lull is like a deep inhale when the hero pulls himself together and makes what’s called a “cross over” decision.
Climax:
This is the cross over action in the story where the hero proceeds forward. In all stories, this is where the antagonistic forces are at their apex and the protagonist has gathered as many skills as she can muster to not only cross over but to never go back to who she was in the beginning of the story.
Here’s a break down from Story Engineering by Larry Brooks of this moment and the key points to pay attention to, or look for:
Plot Point Two:
This is what unfolds, story-wise after the crossover moment. It’s not a hard point, as much as a soft turn around-the-lower-horn of the W chart, where every action from this point forward “proves” that the hero is different and will never go back. This is also where the antagonistic forces are vanquished (in a story that goes the distance toward a heroic outcome) or take over the protagonist (making the story a tragedy).
Also note that the lull→climax→plot point two rise into full blossom in your story because they come from the seeds planted in the inciting incident and plot point one. Which I’ve already written about earlier.
So here we are at Chapter 41 and the lull is a woman in her office that’s being packed up, because she’s moving on to a new job. In a series of quiet scenes, she pulls together her medical records and in doing so discovers her file has, in fact, been hidden away in a warehouse which proves Rick’s intent all along. The idea that another woman might be treated by him and drawn, unwittingly, into his world and his abuse is finally the last thing that sets Jennifer to take action. That is stop hiding and do something. The risks are great, but she fills out the complaint form and walks the envelope to the mailbox down the street. This moment MUST come from the inciting incident which is Ch. 13 and so I also reference it to nudge the readers memory. There is a feeling in the writing of “gathering up” energy for plot point two, or proof that now she is different…
Lull, climax, plot point two. It’s all here and the book is nearly done. My next conversation/teaching will be about the ending itself which isn’t what you might expect…
Your Turn:
Can you identify the lull-climax sequence in your favorite book? Or the one you’re writing?
Post in the comments.
Thanks for being with me, Jennifer 🐦⬛
