Your story has taken your hero out of his comfortable, ordinary life and sent him on a quest.

It stretches his limits.

Pushes him to accomplish whatever he must in order to reach his goal.

The end is in sight. He’s almost there.

And then, at approximately the 75% mark, the unthinkable happens

and beats him back and down.

It looks bad for our boy. You think, “He’s just not going to be able to pull it off!”

He was almost there…he’d almost won…they’d almost gotten together…he’d almost achieved his dream…

but then—out of nowhere— came

THE BLACK MOMENT…                           

the old boyfriend

the chilling diagnosis

the colossal misunderstanding.

But, the story is not over.

After a few minutes/days of contemplation…feeling sorry for himself…wanting to just give up and go home

he rallies.

With new resolve—and oftentimes a new plan—he plunges ahead

against all odds.

He rejoins the battle

and although he may be the weakest and least capable,

he conquers the giant

defeats the bully

climbs the mountain

and

we stand and cheer!!!!

“Wow,” we say, “that was a close one…a nail biter…EXCITING.”

The intensity of the climax, whether a book or a movie, is directly proportional to the intensity of the BLACK MOMENT.

So, if you want your reader to be hooked—to ride the big waves with you to a thrilling and satisfying end— then be sure to include an intense and seemingly iron clad BLACK MOMENT.