This is K.M. Wyland and you are listening to the Helping Writers

Become Authors podcast.

I hope you enjoyed this week's episode,

the two halves of the first plot point.

The first plot point is one of the most important turning points within the entire structure of story.

As with all of the major structural beats, the idea of a turning point offers the inherent concept of two halves, turning

away from one thing or state into another thing or state.

The first plot point is often referred to as a threshold or

door of no return, which offers another type of visual metaphor to represent the

native two-sidedness of all the major structural

beats. Last week with a post about the two halves of the inciting event, we kicked

off a little informal series in which we are breaking down the major structural beats into the halves that create their crucial synarchs.

The beats we're exploring are the inciting event, which we explored last week, the first

plot point, which we're looking at today, and in future episodes we'll look at the midpoint

or second plot point, the third plot point, and the climactic moment.

As the transition between the first act and the second act, the first plot point creates a tremendous arc out of the

protagonist's normal world and into the symbolic adventure world of the

plot's main conflict. It is one of the most crucial beats, not just

for getting a story off to a good start, but for ensuring that the following

plot mechanics can operate at full capacity.

A weak or missing first plot point can irreversibly damage the entire story.

I would argue that a weak first plot point is one of the main

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