Crafting the Character Arc by Jennie Jarvis

Author:Jennie Jarvis [Jarvis, Jennie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781940761138
Publisher: Beating Windward Press
Published: 2014-09-19T00:00:00+00:00

Crisis Point as New Information

When a writer scribes a murder mystery, a thriller or a horror story, they will often need to use a third kind of Crisis Point: the introduction of New Information. This New Information can be actual information (a fact, detail, item) discovered by the protagonist or it can be new information revealed to the reader/viewer. Either way, the new information revealed drastically changes the forward momentum of the story, and the protagonist has no choice but to kill or be killed (literally or figuratively).

In terms of how this kind of Crisis Point is used, most readers/viewers tend to think of the new information revealed to the character. In Se7en, Detective Mills learns that John Doe has the upper hand. In Hot Fuzz, Nicholas discovers the police chief plus the entire Neighborhood Watch Association are responsible for the string of grisly murders in the small, picture-perfect village. In The Name of the Rose, where poisoned ink on a book kills various clergymen, the poisoned book is literally found in a secret room the protagonist never entered until the Crisis Point. Mystery readers are very familiar with this new kind of information presented towards the end of the story that finally gives the detective (or detective figure) the clues he or she needs to solve the case.

But what if the new information takes the form of dramatic irony? In other words, what about the times when the new information is presented to the reader/viewers instead of to the characters within the world of the narrative? A great example of this kind of Crisis Point can be seen in the horror film Paranormal Activity. In this film, a young couple begins to film their bedroom each night to discover the strange noises and disruptions occurring in their house while they attempt to sleep. The new information presented in this film’s Crisis Point is the kind of information revealed to the viewer and not to the characters. After being pulled out of her bed and into a hallway closet, Katie’s character changes dramatically. The Crisis Point comes when it is revealed to the audience that Katie is now possessed. She climbs out of bed and stares menacingly at her husband Micah for hours. For the rest of the film, we want to shout at Micah to get out of the house and run for his life. Unfortunately, we are powerless to do anything but sit back and watch the horror unfold.

When introducing new information as the Crisis Point, it’s important for the writer to realize that this information needs to be held back until the last moment. The protagonist needs to do everything in his or her power to win the goal, and it is only when it looks like they are close to failure when this information is revealed.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.