Turning Point
I am in the midst of finding a family lawyer who will draw up guardianship papers for me. If anything happens to my housekeeper and her husband (i.e., deportation), I will become the legal guardian of their four children. Bringing me to a total of eight kids. Do I have room in my house for 8 kids? No. Add to this that the likelihood of invoking guardianship is somewhat high (most times, it's invoked by death . . . in this case, it would be invoked by that--unlikely--or deportation--much more likely). And so . . . I have passed a turning point.
What do I mean? My housekeeper says she doesn't care if she is shipped back to the slums of Mexico as long as she knows her children are with their other mom. I meet women all the time, in the ESL circles I travel, whose children live with grandparents in a home country and these women work back-breaking jobs to send enough money home that their babies are fed, clothed, and don't need to live in the slums or, in one case, one of the garbage cities. I went from knowing one woman like this . . . to several . . . each one breaking my heart a little. And pulling me into another world just a bit.
And I realized this morning (I have a long day ahead of me interpreting for a situation) . . . that many, many books and characters arc like that. The hero doesn't start OUT hunting for the bad guy who has murdered a hundred people . . . the hero is pulled into the abyss, into this other world, little by little, or suddenly--WHAM!--by some catastrophic event that leaves the hero no choice. Usually, there is a turning point. Some moment when the hero shrugs and thinks, there's no going back. I'm in it.
I am thinking of my wip. My critique group knows I am at a point in which my characters are about to get swept into another world. Little by little, I have planted this story. Little by little, Aleks has been pulled into searching for a cure for the virus. And WHAM! A turning point is about to occur that changes the landscape of the entire book--both figuratively and literally.
I thought Child-44 did a brilliant job of pulling the detective/hero into the morass of the hunt for a killer. It was gradual . . . until the turning point, and then all hell seemed to break loose. I thought The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo also pulled Blomkvist in little by little, like reeling in a fish, until a turning point where he was going to find out the truth no matter the consequences.
Thoughts? Does your plot have a turning point?
24 comments:
Still trying to find the turning point.
That is one big responsibility! I'm amazed at you.
Richmond:
Yeah . . . but I think I've been pulled along in that direction for a while now, so it doesn't "feel" huge anymore.
You know, this is rather timely. Derek Stillwater, typically, it's his job to try to prevent a terrorist attack. There's an attack, he gets called in to investigate, and he runs around trying to stop an even bigger attack.
But in the new wip, he goes to Russia for personal reasons, but gets sucked into a Russian terrorism investigation that not only is he reluctant to get involved in, but in general the Russian government doesn't want him involved in. And I'm searching for that point at which it becomes inevitable, because he has more reasons for staying out than getting involved.
Your turning point was the decision to do something -- if the time ever comes -- that will be a new turning point.
My novel that's out with agents (s l o w agents) has a turning point. My WIP? Not so much. Not yet. It's a little more complex of a story where most of the characters are going to need their own turning points which will happen throughout the story. I know what they need to be, but weaving them through is a long process.
Thanks for the reminder and the example of awesomeness. I think that even in fiction -- a realization can be a turning point even if the actions are slow to follow for whatever reason.
My WIP hasn't gotten there yet.
Remember the song title: You Gotta Have Heart? You bring that phrase to mind!
The world needs more like you.
Mark:
I actually think books like that are awesome because it becomes about the nuances of character.
Amy:
You make a really good point . . . that one turning point can lead to another to another. Like . . . books in which an honest man gets sucked into a conspiracy, and then, in order to fight evil, has to do things he didn't previously think he was capable of.
John Hiatt has a great song, Slow Turning.
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/john+hiatt/slow+turning_20074192.html
Maribeth:
I don't know. A world with more me's could be truly frightening. LOL!
My thoughts revolve around your first comments. In some ways, what a crappy world! If it weren't for good people doing what they can, it would be worse yet.
Yep. In my current book, I made everything really easy on myself (for once). The characters are all shape-shifters ... so there's nothing symbolic about the turning points. He he.
I love thinking about this. One of my writing partners does this beautifully--the whole first half of the story, you just couldn't imagine a particular outcome for the character, and then suddenly, that outcome not only seems possible, but probable, and then a certainty.
Joe:
I suppose there are some people who would change the world a person at a time . . . and some who think it's futile. Depends on which camp you are in, I guess.
Lurker:
I personally think you are TERRIFIED of your new book's ease. :-)
Heather:
Very cool. Yeah . . . I have been pondering this kind of arc lately.
Plot??? :-0
God love you for stepping into a rather frightening situation. Illegal immigrants have gotten a undeserved rap over the years, and it sickens me the way some consider them society's burden because they're "taking away jobs" from U.S. citizens. The notion of "Land of Opportunity" is lost on our vast conservative "moral" majority. Makes me wonder that if Jesus were among us today, he'd be considered immoral.
God bless you for doing what you're doing. :-)
Those kids are fortunate to have their parents, and you, in their lives.
No doubt though you'd come away thinking you got the better end of the deal. Four more children means four times the joy and love.
Trinidad gets dragged in, but it's by a series of larger events like torture, murder, another murder, and of course, The Silver Scar.
Erica, you truly amaze me. So many people say they want to do the right thing but few actually sign the legal documents. Good luck.
You are amazing!!
The turning point in my WIP is where she realizes that there's more to life than the drama in High School. Something I wish I had realized when I was in HS...
kath:
Don't even get me started, LOL!
Starbucks:
I adore those four kids . . . I call them my heart family.
melanie:
Aw . . . thanks.
Nadine:
For a YA, that is a VERY wonderful turning point.
This post reminds me of this quote, which is how I try to live my life.
I cannot do everything.
But I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not fail to do the something I can do.
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