The Midpoint of your story serves a very special purpose because it’s when your protagonist achieves their full dedication to resolving the story’s central conflict by shifting them from Reaction (not in control of the conflict) to Proaction (taking control of the conflict). This is what is meant by ‘Midpoint Reversal’ because it’s a reversal of circumstances. The hunted becoming the hunter so to speak.
Before the Midpoint the protagonist is not fully dedicated to the cause. After the Midpoint the protagonist becomes fully committed because the Midpoint is a hefty no turning back point while raising the story stakes and making it too personal to ignore or abandon any longer.
And by the Midpoint at the latest the protagonist and antagonist must recognize that they are each other’s true obstacle standing in their way to achieving their goal and must be removed in order for them to succeed. This is often why in many stories at the Midpoint the protagonist and antagonist come to literal face-to-face for the first time, prompting this necessary recognition of conflict.
Think of the movie Gladiator with Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. Russell’s character Maximus is enslaved and dons a mask while fighting after being betrayed by Joaquin’s Commodus. At the Midpoint of the story, Maximus and Commodus literally come face-to-face in Rome where Commodus demands of the unknown gladiator to remove his mask and reveal himself. Maximus does, shocking everyone in the arena as well Commodus who presumed the famous general dead. This gives us a little taste of the protagonist vs. antagonist showdown that will happen by story’s end while letting us know that confrontation is now inevitable as well that once it happens the story is over. This also signifies that Maximus and Commodus now truly recognize each other as the main obstacle in their way to victory.
Midpoints also serve another special purpose because they help define whether your story is one of protagonist triumph or protagonist tragedy.
But how do you know which?
Easy.
Act 2A
Midpoint
Act 2B
Act 2A of a triumphant protagonist story is more successes than failures toward resolving the story’s central conflict. The Midpoint is where they achieve their biggest success yet called the False Victory (an All is Joy moment in which the protagonist is at their highest point in the story so far). Act 2B is more failures than successes because Acts 2A & 2B are opposites. Act 2B ends in an All is Lost for the protagonist, or the False Defeat (in which the protagonist is at their lowest point in the story so far).
-Triumphant Protagonist-
Act 2A: more successes than failures leading to the False Victory (all is joy)
Act 2B: more failures than successes leading to the False Defeat (all is lost)
To change their story from triumph to tragedy all one needs to do is switch Acts 2A & 2B as well switch the False Victory and False Defeat each leads to.
So Act 2A of a tragic protagonist story becomes more failures than successes. The Midpoint is where they suffer a major misfortune, or the All is Lost of the False Defeat. Since Acts 2A & 2B have been switched, Act 2B becomes more successes than failures, which ends in the All is Joy of the False Victory.
-Tragic Protagonist-
Act 2A: more failures than successes leading to the False Defeat (all is lost)
Act 2B: more successes than failures leading to the False Victory (all is joy)
Either way, what happens next is the most crucial moment in your story because after the All is Lost of the False Defeat, the triumphant protagonist abandons their dominant character flaw for its opposite virtue. And after the All is Joy of the False Victory, the tragic protagonist regresses deeper into their dominant character flaw while rejecting its opposite virtue.
Both of these determine your entire Act 3 and its outcome.
1. The triumphant protagonist confronts the antagonist and defeats them because of their virtue.
Or . . .
2. The tragic protagonist confronts the antagonist and is defeated by them because of their flaw.
Because . . .
1. A False Victory Midpoint (all is joy) gives you a triumphant protagonist during the story’s Act 3 Climax.
And . . .
2. A False Defeat Midpoint (all is lost) gives you a tragic protagonist during the story’s Act 3 Climax.
I call this most crucial moment of decision the Rubicon because it’s the most defining stage of protagonist change as well a point of no return. The Rubicon is the linchpin which connects Act 2 and Act 3 together. It’s the moment the triumphant protagonist truly realizes their flawed Shield for the burden it is and throws it aside to brandish their virtuous Sword. Or the moment the tragic protagonist rejects their virtuous Sword and regresses deeper behind their flawed Shield (I go more in depth upon this here: Wound, Shield, and Sword).
The Rubicon is the most important decision your protagonist makes in their story because it represents their defining moment of true change. And Act 3 is all about the rewards (if they abandon their dominant character flaw) or consequences (if they embrace their dominant character flaw) of their decision as well how they then apply it to its fullest potential (virtue) or detriment (flaw).
But remember, change is never instant. The Rubicon is more so the protagonist’s acceptance of (flaw abandoned for virtue) or surrender to (virtue rejected for flaw) this defining moment of change. And during Act 3 they may slip in the opposite direction a handful of times along the way while adjusting to this change before they fully embrace it then wield it against the antagonist during the final battle of the story’s Climax.
-Triumphant Protagonist-
Act 1 (show the flaw and hint the virtue)
Act 2A (more successes than failures)
False Victory (all is joy)
Act 2B (more failures than successes)
False Defeat (all is lost)
The Rubicon (flaw abandoned for virtue)
Act 3 (the rewards of the virtue applied)
-Tragic Protagonist-
Act 1 (show the flaw and hint the virtue)
Act 2A (more failures than successes)
False Defeat (all is lost)
Act 2B (more successes than failures)
False Victory (all is joy)
The Rubicon (virtue rejected for flaw)
Act 3 (the consequences of the flaw applied)
Act 2 is well known for causing writers trouble because it is the meat of the story and requires much juicy beef layered between the two slices of Act 1 and Act 3 story bread, so let’s simplify by visualizing a mountain and a valley:
1. A triumphant protagonist’s Act 2 is a mountain (^) with Act 2A the first and ascending side (more successes than failures) and Act 2B the second and descending side (more failures than successes), its highest peak the Midpoint (the All is Joy of the False Victory).
And . . .
2. A tragic protagonist’s Act 2 is a valley (v) with Act 2A the first and descending side (more failures than successes) and Act 2B the second and ascending side (more successes than failures), its lowest dip the Midpoint (the All is Lost of the False Defeat).
You can build your entire story around its Midpoint because the Midpoint determines everything else that happens before and after it.
But what if you don’t know the Midpoint?
It’s all good muh babies if you know the Climax, because the Climax is a more intense version of the Midpoint.
1. Triumphant Protagonist: the True Victory Climax is the All is Joy of a False Victory Midpoint on steroids. And between them is the All is Lost of the False Defeat before the Rubicon.
Or . . .
2. Tragic Protagonist: the True Defeat Climax is the All is Lost of a False Defeat Midpoint on steroids. And between them is the All is Joy of the False Victory before the Rubicon.
We’ll use Gladiator again as the perfect example of how the Midpoint and the Climax parallel each other:
During the Midpoint, Maximus and Commodus come face-to-face though do not engage in battle, only talk and threaten. During the Climax, Maximus and Commodus come face-to-face again and this time they battle to the death.
(*note: Though Maximus is classified as a classic Greek ‘tragic hero’, his story is not one of tragedy but triumph.
Antagonist Commodus’ dominant character flaw is cowardice ((first proven at the movie’s beginning when he arrives late to the opening battle on purpose)) so before the climactic final battle, Commodus visits a chained Maximus and literally stabs him in the back while hugging him to ensure he’ll win then orders the wound covered before they fight to the death in front of all of Rome in the arena.
Maximus tragically dies from the mortal wound, true, but only after triumphantly killing Commodus.
Protagonist Maximus’ dominant character flaw is selfishness ((he cares little for helping Rome over inflicting revenge upon Commodus)), but during his Rubicon he embraces its virtue opposite of selflessness while coming to grips with the tyranny Commodus is imposing upon Rome that will only worsen.
Before Maximus dies after killing Commodus, he orders Senator Gracchus reinstated and expresses Marcus Aurelius’ final wish: that Rome be a republic again. Maximus’ death thereafter reunites him with his murdered family in the Elysian Fields of afterlife as reward.
Maximus is an anti-hero, and the true measure of the anti-hero is that they first reject a cause for selfish reasons ((as does Maximus to Marcus Aurelius then Commodus at the beginning of the movie)) then they eventually take up and almost always self-sacrifice to the cause they now believe in for selfless reasons.
If Maximus would have accepted Marcus’ offer then he and his family would still be alive, and when he kills Commodus in the arena it’s for the selfless higher purpose of saving Rome from Commodus’ tyranny instead of selfish revenge for his murdered family . . . though that latter is a bonus).
But what if you don’t know your story’s Climax either?
The easiest way to have your story plot itself out for you is from the Rubicon. Once you discover your flaw vs. virtue argument (your true story when everything else of lesser value is stripped away), the next step is to decide what your protagonist chooses during the Rubicon at the end of Act 2 (which then becomes their dominant character trait for the remainder of the story). If they choose virtue over flaw then they are a triumphant protagonist. If they choose flaw over virtue then they are a tragic protagonist. Either way, the decision they make at the Rubicon determines your story’s entire Act 2 and Act 3. Find your Rubicon and you’ll automatically find your Midpoint and Climax.
Simple as eating cake.
Knowing your Rubicon then writing from it makes plotting the rest of your story a warm and gentle breeze instead of the turbulent tornado many writers often consider it. So discover your Rubicon and you’ll discover the rest of your story.
Happy writing!