WritersLife Wednesdays: Writing Pinch Points in Your Story

Introduction

• Host: Abbie
• Focus: Writing pinch points and their significance in storytelling
• Context: Ongoing series on the three-act story structure

Overview of Pinch Points

• Definition: A pinch point introduces a hint of suspense and impending trouble in the narrative.
• Placement:
  • Typically two pinch points in a three-act structure:
    1. End of Act One
    2. End of Act Two
  • Some argue the first pinch point may appear at the beginning of Act Two.

Importance of the First Pinch Point

• Description:
  • Opposition or antagonistic force looms in the distance.
  • Can include various forms of antagonism, not limited to a villain character.
• Prompts to Consider:
  • What opposition will the protagonist face later?
  • How can you foreshadow this to create suspense?

Types of Suspense

1. Vicarious Suspense: Audience knows information that the characters do not.
2. Shared Suspense: Both the audience and characters are aware of the impending danger.
3. Direct Suspense: Audience is concerned for their own reasons independent of the character's situation.

Recommendation

• Use vicarious suspense for the first pinch point and shared suspense for the second pinch point.
• Vicarious suspense tends to elicit stronger emotional reactions from the audience.

Psychological Insights

• People enjoy feeling smarter than characters (similar to trivia games).
• Emotional engagement is higher when audiences know more than the characters.

Alfred Hitchcock's Insight

• Emphasizes the difference between suspense and surprise.
• Suspense provides prolonged emotional engagement while surprise is short-lived.

Writing Your Pinch Point

• Styles of Pinch Points:
  1. Full Vicarious: Readers see something the protagonist cannot.
  2. Subtle Clues: Hints at future conflict that the protagonist does not grasp.
  3. Shared Suspense: The protagonist is aware of the looming conflict.
• Examples:
  • Full Vicarious: "Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" - dual narratives of protagonist and antagonist.
  • Subtle Clues: "Jane Eyre" - eerie clues foreshadowing major plot points.
  • Shared Suspense: War movies like "Dunkirk" - characters aware of the imminent danger.

Recap of Key Points

• Main Goal of Pinch Points: Hint at future conflicts faced by the protagonist.
• Suspense vs. Surprise: Prioritize suspense to enhance emotional engagement.
• Questions to Consider:
  • What is the antagonistic force?
  • How can you hint at it?

Conclusion

• Next discussion: Act Two of the story.
• Encourage engagement: Like, subscribe, and check out Patreon for more resources and guidance on storytelling.