Wednesday's Links to Writing & Marketing Blog Posts

WHAT MAKES A STORY’S BLACK MOMENT A BLACK MOMENT?

By: Jamie Gold

If you’ve seen or used beat sheets before, you’ve probably noticed a beat that is often called the Black Moment. The Black Moment is usually one of the most emotional sections of a story, so it can be difficult to pull together.

It doesn’t help that different beat sheets will sometimes place the Black Moment in slightly different places in the story. Or that different story structure systems use different names for the beat. A Black Moment plot point beat might also be called Crisis, Second Plot Point, All Is Lost, or Break Into (Act) Three. It’s enough to make us crazy and worry that we don’t know what we’re doing. *smile*

But as I’ve mentioned before, thenames of the beats don’t matter. No matter what we call them, our story will have scenes or events that fulfill the Black Moment function: an event that steals the protagonist’s hope for a solution

And if we read stories (or watch movies), we’ve seen this beat play out endless times, so we probably understand the plot point more than we may think. But let’s take a closer look and see if we can learn something new.

The Black Moment: The What

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Read the full article HERE!

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If you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they are again:

1. 3 Ways to Use Dramatic Irony - GalleyCat http://ow.ly/FY99x
2. eBooks will outsell print by 2018, predicts PricewaterhouseCoopers - BookBaby Blog http://ow.ly/FY9n0
3. How To Write A 1-Page Synopsis http://ow.ly/FY9tD
4. Author, Jody Hedlund: 6 Ways to Make Characters Stand Out in a Crowd http://ow.ly/FY9Ds
5. Fiction University: The F-Word: Tackling the Nitty Gritty of Formatting http://ow.ly/FY9Lb
6. Novels aren’t movies – how to write great description in prose | Nail Your Novel http://ow.ly/FYb6V
7. Changing Attitudes Toward Self-Publishing | Indies Unlimited http://ow.ly/FYbsL
8. How To Beat The Fear Of Self-Publishing | Molly Greene: Writer http://ow.ly/FYbQL  @Belinda_Pollard
9. Indie Authors: Dealing with Reviews, the Good and Bad http://ow.ly/FYcOe
10. How Much Should I Pay for Editing? - Kelsye Nelson http://ow.ly/FYdgu
11. Inside Tips on How Authors Can Get Their Novels Made into Films | Live Write Thrive http://ow.ly/FYe9C
12. KDP Select & Kindle Unlimited: Why Ebooks Not Enrolled Are at a Disadvantage | Lindsay Buroker http://ow.ly/FYfvt
13. How to Avoid High PayPal Fees: A Trick for #Freelancers http://t.co/DihGSqFsoB RT @Currying_Favor
14. 7 Tips to Improve Your Social Media Posts | Social Media Examiner http://ow.ly/FZ4bY
15. Start Here: How to Get Your Book Published | Jane Friedman http://ow.ly/G00HE
16. What Makes a Story’s Black Moment a Black Moment? | Jami Gold, Paranormal Author http://ow.ly/G0yV5

Happy writing and running, Kathy