DARK MOMENT

The Dark Moment in a books is where the protagonist believes all hope is lost. It comes right before the climatic scene and is a pivotal moment for the main character. A lot of times I will take my protagonist as he/she is in the beginning of the book at the Dark Moment and I know, he/she will fail because they have not changed.

It's interesting, because the entire book is really the protagonist dealing with whatever upset his/her world (the inciting incident) and trying to restore balance. The dark moment comes right before he/she must face off with the antagonist and, if the book is well done, restore balance. The protagonist wins, the antagonist fails, and the reader gets a satisfying ending.

Even more interesting, is it has to be nice and neat. But that is fiction, it's not real life and real life isn't nice and neat. In real life, our worlds get turned upside down on a regular basis and sometimes we hit that Dark Moment, and we fail. We don't win, so to speak. Fiction is set up so the reader gets a payoff. In romance, it's the HEA. In suspense/thrillers, the bad guy gets is due and the world is a better place. In life, well it doesn't work that way.

We hit our dark moments in life and the world doesn't always come out a better place. Sometimes it's a worse place. All hope is lost. The difference between real life, and fantasy life. Between real world, and fictional worlds.