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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIn \u201cThe Basket of Flowers,\u201d Mary and her father return home to pack for their journey. She cannot help but lament their situation, but he encourages her to trust in God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In \u201cPendragon,\u201d Artos meets King Ambrosius and Princess Wenneveria, who give him a position in the royal army after seeing his display of sword-fighting skill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Flat Arc template, the First Pinch Point is labeled \u201cUncertain if Truth is capable of defeating Lie\u201d. This is a mini Low Moment for your MC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, remember, the real Low Moment will come at the Third Plot Point. But life can\u2019t just be all joyous and happy up until that point. There needs to be challenges along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, your MC is in the Adventure World, trying to get things sorted out. They\u2019re already confronted with enough opposition from the World itself. However, things are about to get more intense. The pinch points are when the MC is reminded of three things:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- The antagonist <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
This is when the antagonist makes himself known to the MC. He gives your protagonist a little \u201cpinch\u201d to let him know, \u201cHey, I\u2019m still here, and I\u2019m still after you.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nIn \u201cThe Basket of Flowers,\u201d Juliette returns Mary\u2019s basket of flowers, telling her that Amelia wants nothing to do with her anymore. This heaps even more despair on Mary, as she had clung to the hope that her friend hadn\u2019t abandoned her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nIn \u201cPendragon,\u201d Artos meets Caydern, who immediately takes a disliking to him. As Artos continues to rise in the ranks and in the king\u2019s favor, Caydern becomes increasingly jealous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n- \n
- The stakes<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
Ask yourself, \u201cWhat would happen if the antagonist wins?\u201d Then ask \u201cWhat would happen if the protagonist wins?\u201d These are your stakes. This is why the story matters to the MC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Hint: Usually, the stakes will have something to do with the MC\u2019s Goal. If the antagonist wins, the MC\u2019s Goal will not be realized. If the protagonist wins, they\u2019ll achieve their Goal.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This reminder of the stakes applies more pressure on the MC, deepening the mini Low Moment. It allows more doubts to creep in as they realize just what\u2019s at stake here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nIn \u201cThe Basket of Flowers,\u201d Mary\u2019s stakes are shown when she loses everything she holds dear\u2026 except her father. Now that he is all she has left, she realizes how easy it would be to lose him, too. This is especially made evident when his health begins to fail because of their constant traveling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nIn \u201cPendragon,\u201d Artos\u2019 stakes are shown when he sees that even King Ambrosius and his army are struggling to fight back against the Saxons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n- \n
- The Lie<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
So now that the appropriate pressure has been placed upon the MC, the doubts start to creep in, creating our mini Low Moment. On top of the entire World being against them, they have this antagonist who is out to stop them from achieving their Goal. And the worst thing about it? None of this would have happened if the MC didn\u2019t believe in the Truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They look at what they\u2019re supposed to defeat, and they wonder if the Truth is capable of doing it. Can a little thing like a Truth take down an entire World of Lies? Can it defeat someone as powerful as the antagonist? How is the MC supposed to do it? What if they fail?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nIn \u201cThe Basket of Flowers,\u201d Mary is discouraged over her situation. She\u2019s been accused of a crime she didn\u2019t commit, banished from the only home she\u2019s ever known, and now, her best friend has seemingly turned against her. And it\u2019s all because she trusted God instead of lying to get out of her punishment. As she and her father set out on their journey, and are forced to beg just to survive, she can\u2019t help but doubt the Truth just a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nIn \u201cPendragon,\u201d there isn\u2019t really much of a Low Moment. Artos continues to help the king fight back against the Saxons, and all he appears to be doing is growing in favor. Of course, Caydern hates him all the more, but Artos doesn\u2019t even seem to be conscious of this fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Note: This lack of a mini Low Moment may be due to the fact that the Inciting Event was so dramatic, and provided a huge Low Moment in and of itself. This movie\u2019s structure isn\u2019t perfect, but I believe we can learn some things from it, which is why I chose to still use it as one of our examples.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nBut, of course, the MC will ultimately not be deterred from their belief in the Truth. This is only a mini Low Moment, remember, so don\u2019t make it too dramatic. They will correct their course and cling to the Truth all the tighter. This victory over the mini Low Moment shouldn\u2019t be made a big deal, either. The pressures and hardships are still there, and the MC\u2019s time to shine won\u2019t be until the Midpoint. So have them continue to struggle as they go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nIn \u201cThe Basket of Flowers,\u201d Mary and her father end up finding some people who are willing to give them work, and Mary\u2019s faith is strengthened. However, the big victory (the Midpoint) is yet to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nIn \u201cPendragon,\u201d most of the First Pinch Point is the victory, as Artos doesn\u2019t really doubt the Truth (he already did this during the First Plot Point). His bigger victory at the Midpoint comes when an event obstructs his Goal, causing both a mini Low Moment, and an opportunity for the Truth to shine. (More about this when we get to the Midpoint.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nHere are a few more examples of First Pinch Points: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- The BFG is bullied by the other giants; one of the giants finds Sophie\u2019s blanket (\u201cThe BFG\u201d)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- The spaceship returns for Eve; Wall-E stows away until they arrive at the Axiom (\u201cWall-E\u201d)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Will tries to recruit some of his friends, only to realize they are too cowardly (\u201cHigh Noon\u201d)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Paddington is taken in by the Browns, though Mr. Brown clearly doesn\u2019t like him (\u201cPaddington\u201d)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Comment below the First Pinch Point of your favorite book or movie! <\/strong> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So, after the First Plot Point, your MC is going to be reeling from the turn of events. They\u2019re stumbling around this new Adventure World, trying to gather their thoughts and figure out what kind of place this is. But since this is the Adventure World, conflict between the Truth and the Lie is inevitable. The MC won\u2019t be sitting around for long\u2026 the First Pinch Point is on its way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[136,5],"tags":[24,26,29,100,23,33,27],"class_list":["post-855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-flat-arcs","category-plots-and-character-arcs","tag-character-arcs","tag-characters","tag-christian-writing","tag-flat-arcs","tag-plots","tag-protagonist","tag-writing-tips"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=855"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":858,"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855\/revisions\/858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianwriter.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Paddington is taken in by the Browns, though Mr. Brown clearly doesn\u2019t like him (\u201cPaddington\u201d)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
- Will tries to recruit some of his friends, only to realize they are too cowardly (\u201cHigh Noon\u201d)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
- The spaceship returns for Eve; Wall-E stows away until they arrive at the Axiom (\u201cWall-E\u201d)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
- The BFG is bullied by the other giants; one of the giants finds Sophie\u2019s blanket (\u201cThe BFG\u201d)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
- The Lie<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
- The stakes<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n