NOVEL STRUCTURE: THAT SECOND PINCH POINT. OUCH, RIGHT?

So, we’ve been talking the past two weeks a lot about novel structure and pinch points. And today? Well, today, we’re going to talk about the dastardly second pinch point.

For a quick reminder of what a pinch point is, Larry Brooks just defines pinch points as “An example, or reminder, of the nature and implications of the antagonist force, that is not filtered by the hero’s experience.”

So, it’s a place in your structure where tension goes up because we’re reminded of just how bad the baddy in the story is.

The Second Pinch Point Some Quick Facts:

1. This occurs 62% of the way into the story.
2. That means it is after the middle (midpont) of your novel, but before that third plot point.
3. It is still in the second act of a three-act story.

Right before the second pinch point, in most novels, there’s some new action going on. Or as K.M. Weiland explains:

“Armed with the new understanding he acquired at the Midpoint, the protagonist charges into the Second Half of the Second Act. He’s no…