Two Halves of a Story
Think of every story as two halves where the first half is the opposite of the second half. In the first half, the hero pursues a goal and finally achieves it. Then the second half is where things start falling apart for the hero, but this second half represent the opposite of the first half.
In “Captain Phillips,” the first half of the story is about keeping the pirates off the ship and when that fails, getting them off. By the midpoint, they’ve succeeded. However, things suddenly get worse when the pirates take the captain hostage and get off the ship in a lifeboat. The first half story is about getting the pirates off the ship. The second half story is about getting Captain Phillips off the lifeboat.
In “Star Wars,” the first half of the story is about getting to Princess Leia’s planet, but that fails and they wind up getting caught by the Death Star. Then the second half story is about getting off the Death Star.
In “Die Hard,” the first half of the story is about the hero trying to contact the police. The second half of the story is about taking matters in his own hands.
In “WALL-E,” the first half of the story is about going from Earth to the starship containing the human race. In the second half of the story, the goal is to get the human race back to Earth.
Design your story with these two halves in mind. The second half essentially is the opposite of the first half. In “Alien,” the first half is about getting the alien off the ship. In the second half, it’s about getting the humans off the ship. In “Room,” the first half is about escaping the prison of the garden shed. In the second half, it’s about escaping the prison of her own mind that feels guilty and depressed over her imprisonment.
Think of your overall story in two halves that are opposites. This will help structure you story properly and keep your overall story unified until the end.
In “Dances with Wolves,” the hero has spent the first half of the story getting to know the Indians. In the second half of the story, the hero tries to protect the Indians from the white men.
In “Mad Max: Fury Road,” the first half of the story is about leaving the villain’s citadel. The second half of the story is about returning to the villain’s citadel.
In “It Follows,” the first half of the story is about running away from a ghost that stalks the hero. The second half of the story is about the hero learning how to defeat this relentlessly stalking ghost.
The midpoint (False Victory) neatly divides your story in two halves where each half represents the opposite of each other somehow. This mirroring helps create a unified story.
In your own story, think of the direction your hero goes in the first half of your story. Now think how your hero can go in the opposite way somehow in the second half of your story. The early part of your story your hero is mostly passive. In the second half of the story, your hero starts getting more proactive.
Divide your story in two halves and see if they contrast somehow. If not, your story may not be balanced.
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