The midpoint is when the protagonist learns something about themselves that will empower them to finally take charge for the last half of the story. The midpoint occurs at about the 50% mark.
Just prior to the midpoint, some event, knowledge, or discovery has sent the protagonist reeling. The protagonist retreats to lick their wounds, take a breather, and reflect on what happened before realizing that they need to change direction. This forces them to look deep into their own soul rather than blaming others or their circumstances.
The protagonist may discover that they are the reason nothing they do has been working and that they in fact are the issue.
They may realize that they are going to die and there is nothing they can do about it.
Regardless of how this happens, something inside of them changes at this moment. The realization may hit them like a truck. It might come in the form of a memento, a symbol, a memory, a confrontation with a family member, friend, co-worker, or stranger, or the protagonist realizing, finally, after much reflection, that they’ve been going about everything wrong.
TIP: Reflect on a time when a crisis affected you – how did you respond? How did you feel? What did you do? Did you retreat and try to avoid it for a time? Did you reflect on the events that led you there? It will be the same for your protagonist.
Up to this point, the protagonist has been dodging bullets, everything has been out of their control, and they’ve been on defense, meaning they have been reacting rather than being proactive. With the new information the protagonist gleans about themselves at the midpoint, they pivot to an offensive stance, taking action rather than reacting. They are now making plans and they know how to fight back (or at least they think they do). This doesn’t mean the protagonist will be successful, yet. There is still work to do to prevail over the antagonist, but the protagonist now has a plan, and most of all, the will to win.
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