Thursday 6 March 2008

Black Moments


What is a Black Moment? Many things to many people, or the same to all? For this seagull it was when his siblings got to the bread I threw out before he did. However, to be serious for a moment: McKee says a story is a design in five parts: inciting incident, progressive complications, crisis, climax and resolution.

Is the Black Moment crisis, or climax? Or the bit in between?

For McKee, the hero is at the end of the line when he reaches Crisis. His next move will be his last, and it must be a choice between irreconcilable goods, or the lesser of two evils. Or both at once.

This is where the deepest layers of character are revealed.

McKee defines Climax as a value swing at maximum charge, both absolute and irreversible.

Leslie Wainger goes straight from climax to resolution, and warns that it is often difficult to tell where climax ends and resolution begins.

I'm just approaching mine. It is going to have quite a delicate lead-in, but will be quite soul destroying. Let's hope I can pull it off.

1 comment:

Toni Anderson said...

Excellent post Jen, I must reread McKee. Good reminder of points.

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