Tipping Point
If you have read The Tipping Point, it explores some interesting concepts. Since I try to be an independent thinker, I have been watching, recently, gossip and group think as an example of tipping point phenomena. And I have been thinking about it in the context of banal evil--but wait, isn't that an oxymoron?
Example: Two years ago, I was in the company of a large group of women. I would guess there were 35-40. Cocktails were flowing. And one woman stood up on a chair, and began mocking a woman we all knew who was not there. She said, "Doesn't that remind you of her?" And I said no. But interestingly, only one other person there--also a very independent thinker--argued with the woman on the chair. But if you had sat these 40 women down individually and asked "Do you think doing something like that is OK?" I would assume all would have said, "No. For heaven's sake, they teach that in KINDERGARTEN."
But what can seem a moment of banal evil, a moment of gossip, a moment of the "sport" of unkindness . . . when allowed to pass . . . to me adds a bit of that black mucky oil we see in the gulf into the sea of clarity. Add enough oil . . . and soon all you have is black.
In my work-in-progress, anarchy has consumed the end of the world (or what might be the end of the world). It starts with little things as society breaks down. Trash doesn't get collected. The power is intermittent. As people edge toward needing to survive, as crime rises, they feel forced by circumstance to look the other way for their own safety. And before you know it . . . a tipping point happens and suddenly the world is radically unsafe.
Maybe there IS no such thing as banal evil.
People have tipping points, too. They have moments when they "go along," but then a tipping point occurs . . . and there's a radical transformation. In novels, it's not the climax. It's the catalyst. It's the event that drives them to take on the case, to embark on the journey, to save the girl, to win the girl, to fight The Man, to get revenge, to . . . .
I think it has more URGENCY than GMC (goal-motivation-conflict), because tipping points are often about astounding moments of something going "viral." Going out of control.
For Aleks, in my novel, when anarchy literally comes to his doorstep, he sees the world as totally different, I think. The tipping point arrives with a crash--and he knows it's not going to go away. EVER.
Does your novel have a tipping point?
14 comments:
That's an intriguing way to think of it.
I guess for Trinidad, the tipping point is coming back together with Castile again, though he doesn't really think of it in so many words. But when they are together again it's like they never were apart. So there isn't much question after that, no matter what Castile does (some bad shit), of their separating again. Until the crisis point, which is different from the tipping point, I guess.
Starbucks:
Yeah . . . I see tipping point as catalyst, and in certain kinds of novels, it's sometimes the realization that the world you once knew doesn't exist anymore . . . it's some insane new world, so to speak. GMC, to me, is a lot more internal . . . organic, innate.
No but my life does. It's tipping all over the place. Not quite as dramatically as yours!
I thought eminent domain was the catalyst but it isn't. For so many people it was merely a forced move. They didn't change anything but location. I haven't quite figured out what the real change is for Harvey.
That's really interesting. Typically the Derek Stillwater novels start with the tipping point--right from the beginning there's a crisis that forces Derek into action. In the 5th book I'm working on now, one of the problems with it for me is that the event that gets him into the action is more of an emotional tipping point that has nothing to do with the action plot of the story, but does get him in the right location for it. Then slowly one event after another pushes him deeper and deeper into the problem until the real tipping point occurs--and interestingly enough, since you mentioned going viral, it does involve a real virus.
Which may just mean that the structure of this book is really different than the previous books.
Interesting question. I'd say the story I'm working on has two tipping points—one plot and one personal. The plot one happens in the beginning; it's the catalyst of action and you pretty much get it on the first two pages. This time, I wanted to make it crystal clear what kind of book you're reading from Page One.
The second tipping point is much trickier. Sam makes a a deeply personal decision about midway through the book that is surprising, even to himself, and it changes him as a person.
Richmond:
For me, the tipping point (personally, and for characters) is the "line in the sand." What is the ONE thing he cannot abide? (At least that's what I ask . . . ).
E
Mark:
I think gradual builds can be very fascinating to read. One reason I liked Dragon Tattoo (and I know more than a few regulars here did not), was he didn't jump into the case with both feet. He was pulled in and in and in . . . until the tipping point for him.
Jon:
Can't wait to find out what it is!
:-)
Loved the concepts of Tipping Point, and now that you mentioned it I might need to read it again.
Yessiree, I have T.P.s in my WIP, one that changes the dark knight into shining armor, going against his personal beliefs to right a wrong.
Kath:
I think the other thing (now that you mention your character's TP) . . . the tipping point often has an urgency . . . a sense of "no turning back."
E
I would say where Colt chases the old Chevy station wagon. When he gets back to his camper, everything has changed. It's a new ballgame from there.
Jude . . .
My book literally has two parts--life before, life after kind of thing. To me, the changed landscape is a big part of it.
Oh, I love the "no turning back" scenario! So true, and so organic. :-)
Kath:
My eyes were recently opened about some people I know. Now, it can never be the same. You can't go back once you have new knowledge. People may try to earn your respect again, but it takes a lot to earn that once it's lost. No turning back . . . .
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