Vlog: Harry Potter Spells Book Rec Tag

Slightly longer vlog today because my CP Vicki Leigh tagged me in a Harry Potter spells book rec tag! And so I thought I'd have some fun and join along.

Happy viewing!

THE BOOKS:

• Artemis Fowl Series by Eoin Colfer
• Half Bad by Sally Green
• My review
• Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis
• My review
• Losing It by Cora Carmack
• The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo
• My review of Siege and Storm
• and Ruin and Rising
• City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
• Beautiful Boy by David Sheff
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• My review
• BoneMan's Daughters by Ted Dekker
• The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker
• Adam by Ted Dekker

Twitter-sized bite: 

Writer @Ava_Jae participates in a Harry Potter spells book rec vlog tag. Have you read these awesome books? (Click to tweet) 

Plot Essentials: The Darkest Hour

Photo credit: Thalita Carvalho on Flickr

Okay, so maybe that plot point name is a bit dramatic, but to be honest, I can’t remember the official name of this point, and that basically sums it up. So. Anyway. 

The darkest hour is the point in your manuscript where your protagonist has reached his lowest point. This usually comes right before the climax—it’s where all hope seems lost and the worst of the worst has happened and your protagonist doesn’t know how they’re going to overcome their insurmountable odds.

Keeping with our examples from the last plot essentials posts, here are the darkest hours from some popular novels. If you haven’t read any of these, please skip over that particular example, because SPOILERS. You’ve been warned:

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J.K. Rowling): Harry is dead. Voldemort has finally killed the boy who lived, the Battle of Hogwarts is lost and the wizarding world’s only hope is gone.
  
  Note: I chose the last Harry Potter book rather than the first in the previous examples because this is one of the best darkest hour points that I can think of in literature, period. 


• City of Bones (Cassandra Clare): Valentine has opened up the gates to demons, Jace seems to be cooperating with him and worse—Clary and Jace are siblings and definitely shouldn’t be in love with each other.


• Divergent (Veronica Roth): Tris’s parents are dead, all of her friends are under a simulation that’s turned them into mindless murderers, innocent Abnegation citizens are being killed and now Four has fallen prey to a simulation that has turned him against her. 

The darkest hour is actually one of my favorite plot points to write, because it shows our characters at their lowest point, which really allows us to get a sense of what they have to overcome and makes the eventual victory that much sweeter. Also, I’ve found that how characters (and people) behave when they’re at their lowest really says a lot about their character.

All that said, if you get the darkest hour right, then the ending and victory becomes much stronger and more powerful than it would have been otherwise.

Can you identify the darkest hour in your WIP or favorite book?

Working on a plot for your WIP? Writers @Ava_Jae discusses the importance of the darkest hour. (Click to tweet)  

Do you know your WIP’s darkest hour? Writer @Ava_Jae talks identifying this plot point, with examples. (Click to tweet)

Plot Essentials: The Point of No Return

Photo credit: ~Prescott on Flickr

It's time for another plot essentials post! Now that we've talked about the inciting incident, it's time to move on to the next major plot point: The Point of No Return.

Whereas the inciting incident kicks the story off that dominos scene after scene into a novel, the point of no return is the moment in the book in which the protagonist must embrace the journey he or she's about to take and move forward, knowing full well that they will never be able to return to their normal life.

Keeping with our examples from the last plot essentials post, here are the points of no return from a couple popular novels:

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (J.K. Rowling): There seems to be some debate online on the PoNR, but I tend to agree with the most popular answer—when Harry boards the Hogwarts Express for the first time. Up until the point, he could have hypothetically returned to Privet Drive and continued to live as he did—but after boarding the Hogwarts Express, there's no turning back. He's on his way to wizarding school, where he'll start on a new phase of his life. 


• City of Bones (Cassandra Clare): When Clary's mother is abducted and Clary herself is attacked by a demon, her life irrevocably changes. She can't go on as a normal teenager—her mother is missing, her life is in danger and she can no longer deny that the things she's been seeing (the demons and Shadowhunters) are indeed real. 


• Divergent (Veronica Roth): When Tris chooses to become Dauntless, she can't go back. She's made a decision that has altered the course of her life—she can't change her mind and go back to Abnegation, and even if she fails Dauntless initiation, there's no returning home. 

Similarly to the inciting incident, the PoNR isn't a plot point you should skip, either. Of course, I wouldn't list it as a plot essential if including it wasn't important. :)

Can you identify the point of no return in your WIP or favorite book? 

Twitter-sized bites: 

Working on a plot for your WIP? Writer @Ava_Jae discusses the importance of the point of no return. (Click to tweet)  

Do you know your WIP's point of no return? Writer @Ava_Jae talks identifying this plot point, with examples. (Click to tweet)