Thinking About Narrative: The Tipping Point

​In my previous post about narrative structure, I discussed the different parts of plot. Like I said before, this model will help you write your own work and/or evaluate/study how other writers craft their narratives. But while this narrative structure is strong, I would like to make an addition to it: the tipping point.

Malcolm Gladwell defines the tipping point as "the one dramatic moment in an epidemic when everything can change."[1] He explains that every tipping point has three characteristics: contagiousness, little things adding up to big things, and change happening in the blink of an eye. Throughout the Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, Gladwell cites countless examples of this phenomenon in order to help us understand why some ideas and business take off and others do not.

While the book is geared toward business, I believe the tipping point phenomena can be applied to writing as well. In fact, I would argue that it is a crucial component of any narrative. If we think about this in terms of a story arc the “tipping point” is the moment that fuses the exposition and the rising action together. All the exposition’s little moments and tidbits of information have led to the point when a character—unknowingly—makes a pivotal decision that will forever change them. The tipping point is “enter if you dare” sign. The point of no return. Because the tipping point is the moment where the plot tips into the realm of the uncontrollable.

Take Lila from Ben Percy’s The Dark Netas an example. We spend the first few chapters getting to know Lila. We learn that she is the aunt of the blind teenager we met in the prologue. We learn she is a no-nonsense reporter. We learn she is anything but technologically savvy. And we learn she is too curious for her own good. So when Lila gets wind of a story and goes to investigate, we already know something major is going to happen. That “something” is the tipping point.

While snooping around the site, Lila comes across an abnormally shaped skull and she has a decision to make: walk away or take the skull, tick-off some hell-raising demons, and get the scoop of a lifetime.[2] As expected, Lila steals the skull. In doing so she puts herself—and those she loves—on a collision course with pure evil. While she doesn’t know it yet, she is completely over her head. The central conflict(s) ignite and the tension immediately ramps up. By having Lila make this single decision Percy has seamlessly transitioned into the rising action.

So, if you are in the midst of brainstorming or writing your first draft, keep this in mind. Think about what the pivotal decision your main character has to make. What is the moment that is going to leave them utterly vulnerable? When does the plot take a turn for the uncontrollable and unpredictable? Write toward that moment and let it set the pace for the rest of your narrative. ​​

[1] Gladwell, Malcolm. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 20002), 9.
[2] Percy, Benjamin. The Dark Net (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017).