Plot turns, turning points, and plot points work to turn the direction of the story, but few writers fully understand what they actually are.
And when I was learning the writing craft, I sometimes wondered what the difference was between turning points and plot points. And plot turns for that matter.
At the time, I couldn't find any clarity online. So . . . here is the post that past me needed. 😉
Turning Points
In writing, a turning point is what it sounds like: It turns the direction of the story.
The story was going one direction, and then a significant action is taken or information is revealed, and now the story is going a different direction.
Here are some famous examples:
Luke's farm and family are destroyed, so he goes with Obi-Wan to become a Jedi.
The Gamemakers announce there can be two victors in the Hunger Games, if they are from the same district, so Katniss runs to find Peeta.
Hagrid reveals Harry is a wizard and has been accepted at Hogwarts, so Harry goes with him.
At the Council of Elrond, it is determined the Ring must be destroyed at Mount Doom, and Frodo volunteers.
Each of these moments changes the story in significant ways. Luke is now on the path to becoming a Jedi, and will soon encounter the Death Star. Katniss now needs to locate (and then take care of) Peeta. Harry wouldn't be going to Hogwarts without this moment. And the Fellowship sets off for Mount Doom, with Frodo as the Ring Bearer.
Turning points are a necessity for any successful story.
And out of all the turning points that can exist in a story, the most famous one is the climax.
Yes. The climax is a turning point--and the biggest one.
At the climax, the protagonist and antagonist face a final confrontation, where one or the other claims victory (simplistically speaking), and it turns the story in a big way: it ends the main conflict.
If you look at basic story structure, you can visually see how the climax turns the story from rising action, to falling action:
In his book Story, Robert McKee wisely points out that a turning point can only happen one of two ways (or both of them).
- a revelation (in other words, info is revealed)
- an action (which we may also think of as an event)
. . . or both..
Looking back at our examples, we can see this is the case:
Luke's farm and family are destroyed, so he goes with Obi-Wan to become a Jedi. (action)
The Gamemakers announce there can be two victors in the Hunger Games, if they are from the same district (reveal), so Katniss runs to find Peeta (action).
Hagrid reveals Harry is a wizard and has been accepted at Hogwarts, so Harry goes (action) with him.
At the Council of Elrond, it is determined the Ring must be destroyed at Mount Doom (reveal), and Frodo volunteers (reveal (Frodo verbally reveals he's willing to do it).
There are certainly occasions where a turning point can seem to be both at the same time--that's fine. But the turn will happen through at least one of these ways.
Sometimes I'm asked, "Why only these ways?"
And the short answer is, those are the only ways a story can turn.
Another way to look at it is, either something "mental" happens (reveal/information) or something "physical" happens (action/event). Those are your options. (Though I could definitely go deeper into all this.)
Another helpful way to visualize a turning point is to think of a train on a railroad. Your character is the train. The railroad is the journey he is on. A turning point works like one of those tracks that switches the direction of the train. It was going this way, and now it's going that way.
A truly successful turning point will be what some in the writing community call a "Point of No Return," meaning you can't go back and undo what happened (at least not very easily). Once that train turns, it can't go backward or another direction. It can only go forward.
Luke can't go back to how his life was previously, because the Stormtroopers destroyed that life. It's gone.
Harry can't unlearn what Hagrid tells him, even if he tries to. He's a wizard, and it changes everything.
And once Frodo commits to the task, he's officially heading to Mount Doom.
I've left our Katniss example for last, because it's a little more complex (and that's okay). Sure, the Gamemakers try to go back on their word, but it's never really the same, is it? Once Katniss hears she can win with Peeta, she's ultimately trying to do that (even if she hesitates at times), and their relationship changes.
But what's really happening here is that the turn (the reveal or action) carried significant consequences--that's what makes it a "Point of No Return."
Because Luke's family and farm were destroyed he can't go back to his old life. And because he goes with Obi-Wan, his current life is completely changed. Harry learning he (and his parents) can do magic, rocks his whole world--his whole understanding of himself and where he came from changes. The consequences are deep and personal, and his choice to enter into that world carries more consequences; he needs to get everything in order to go to this school.
This is perhaps most obvious at the climax.
The protagonist and antagonist face off in a final confrontation. If the protagonist wins, she gets her objective, and all the good things that come with that--the positive consequences. The story will likely have a happy ending, simplistically speaking. If she loses, she doesn't, and bad things come with that--the negative consequences. The story will likely have a sad ending, simplistically speaking. The narrative moves into falling action as we watch these consequences (which often lead to tying up loose ends) play out.
Some people in the writing world (such as Shawn Coyne in his Story Grid approach) like to view turning points as a shift in a value. For example, in our Katniss example, the turning point shifts her from being defeated and alone to hopeful and seeking companionship. We could say that Harry's moves him from ordinary to extraordinary. In another story, the character could move from scared to brave, or in another from having a home to becoming homeless.
While I think this is useful (and you should definitely use it if you find it useful too), I had a realization that completely fine-tuned my understanding of turning points, and I feel it is more helpful. In my opinion, perhaps more important than anything I've covered so far here (which is what you'll usually find), a turning point works by somehow changing the character's goal, or the character's plan to get the goal.
We can see this in all of my examples.
When his family and farm are destroyed, Luke's goal changes: Before, he was going to be a farm boy who went to Academy, but now, his new goal is to go with Obi-Wan to become a Jedi.
When the Gamemakers announced that two people could be victors, Katniss's plan changes: She still intends to win the Games, but now she intends to win with Peeta.
When Hagrid reveals Harry is a wizard, Harry's goal changes: Now he intends to go to Hogwarts (which means going with Hagrid).
When the council realizes the Ring must be destroyed at Mount Doom (a task it seems no one is fit for), Frodo's plan changes: His original goal was to take the Ring where it needed to go, which he thought was Rivendell, but now he realizes, he must take it to Mount Doom.
This is also true at the climax--the protagonist either definitively gets, or doesn't get, her goal, which means, the status of the goal changes.
The reason a turning point turns the direction of the story, is because it changes the goal, or the plan to get the goal.
The goal provides direction to the plot. If no one knows what the objective is, then it usually feels like the story isn't going anywhere. There is no direction.
So in order to change the direction of the story, we change the goal and/or the plan to get the goal. This changes the direction of the train. The character is the train pursuing the goal.
This is what a turning point truly is: information or an action that somehow changes the character's goal or plan.
That change can be big. Or that change can be little. But which it should be, likely depends on what structural unit you are working with.
And that takes me to the next term . . .
Plot Points
Well . . . guess what?
This is the simple thing past-me wishes someone could have explained: turning points and plot points are the same thing.
It's the same concept, but it just has two different names.
For the most part.
There is one sort of difference.
Which is that, most commonly, the term "plot point" is used to reference turning points for acts.
Each act in a story should have a major turning point.
Depending on what approaches you've been exposed to, you may know these by other names, like . . .
- Plot Point 1, Midpoint, Plot Point 2, and Climax (7 Point Story Structure)
- Break into Two, Midpoint, All is Lost, and Finale (Save the Cat)
- Crossing the Threshold, The Ordeal, Resurrection (Hero's Journey)
- Fail, Fail, Success (Try/Fail Cycle)
. . . or maybe not, and this is all new to you.
Usually when people say "plot point," though, they are referring to these major, act-level turns in the story.
And in reality, a strong story isn't one long monotonous climb to the climax, but a journey that has big turns along the way, which creates peaks and valleys during the overarching climb.
Luke's family and farm getting destroyed is the major turn of Act I. Harry learning he is a wizard is also the major turn of Act I. Katniss learning there can be two victors, is a big turn that takes us into Act III.
Act-level turns are major, meaning they change the goal or the plan in very significant ways.
Beyond acts, scenes should also almost always have a turning point--it's just theirs are smaller. A turning point for a scene would be Luke successfully purchasing droids, since that was his goal for the scene. A goal or plan can also be accomplished or abandoned, which is still a change (just make sure there is a goal in place immediately or soon after, so we continue to have a sense of direction).
Occasionally, the term "plot point" also gets used when writers are talking about scenes. It's all the same concept, though. Some are just bigger than others.
Plot Turns
And finally, we have plot turns.
And guess what?
Surprise!
Plot turns are the same thing as turning points and plot points.
Don't you love the writing world? 😉
Every time you create a turning point, you create a plot turn.
Because a plot turn . . . turns the plot! (Bet you didn't see that one coming).
So even though, I admit, it seems redundant . . . young writer me could have really used a post like this to explain these things. So, I created one . . . and maybe it will be helpful to someone else too.
FYI: After receiving a couple of emails about it, I've now put up several payment plan options for the Triarchy Method Course, so you don't have to email me if you want to split up the cost of the program. There are 2-pay, 3-pay, and 4-pay options (however, if you need something else, I'm happy to accommodate, just email me at SeptemberCFawkes@gmail.com).
Other writers have already experienced great growth and success with this program. LA Petrie took the course as a brand new writer, and is now an award-winning author (congrats!). I loved helping her develop Skint during the course--through classes, one-on-one feedback, workshopping, and more. 💖🏆
FYIx2: The Storymakers Conference is next month--and I'm teaching two classes: Allies & Enemies: Structuring Your Cast, and Principles of Perfect Pacing. Storymakers was the 1st writing conference I ever went to (17 years ago!)—and it was such a magical experience 💫 🥰 Now I try to make it magical for others. . . . One way I’m doing that is by giving you a discount 😏 Use SEPTEMBER20 to get $20 off in-person or virtual registration: learn more or register.
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