Moment of Hope (Part 1 of 2)
There are seven key emotional moments in a novel, the beginning , stasis equals death , the inciting incident , the mid-point , all is lost , the climax and the end . Of the seven, the climax is my favorite. In my own writing, I’ve noticed what I will call the moment of hope . It is the emotional climax of the novel and may occur on one side or the other of the true climax. It may occur in the A plot, but it usually occurs in the B plot. It is that moment in which the reader realizes that this thing’s going to work, whatever it is. In How to Become a Bible Character , our protagonist is in the hospital, not expected to live after taking a beating from his best friend’s father. The senior pastor’s wife is on her deathbed. Our first person narrator has called for a prayer meeting and expects just the faithful Wednesday night crowd to show up. When he and his family arrive at church, the building is filled with people, a testament to the influence our protagonist has had on the people a...