Interesting! I’ll have to check it out. 🙂 Thanks!

Hi Sieran,

When the first sex/love scene occurs definitely depends on the story, no doubt. I still see romances with that scene in any which beat, including the Climax. So I’d agree that romances are able to cross that line earlier in the story structure than years ago, but I wouldn’t call it a given (and certainly not required) to have it before the Midpoint. 🙂

As for the Black Moment, how “black” it gets is certainly up to the tone and mood of the story. And so much of what makes this moment feel tragic depends on how much “fallout” readers experience, so there’s a lot that authors can do (or not do) to make this beat work for their story.

The point–at least for stories with character arcs–is to push the characters to do something they couldn’t do before in the Climax. And something needs to trigger them into knowing that giving up isn’t an option (because on some level, they tried giving up before and couldn’t). Whether that trigger has to be a black, tragic, metaphorical death is another matter. 🙂

The better I understand the Midpoint, the more I love that beat too, so I understand! LOL!

Anyway, what I wanted to say was, for a lot of romances I read in my childhood, the heroes would meet (or start paying more attention to) each other near the beginning. In the middle, they get to know each other more deeply and may become friends by this point, if they weren’t already. The climax would typically be when the characters would confess their love and get together. I believe this kind of romance arc is more common in YA or middle grade books nowadays than in adult romances, right? (I think the Percy Jackson series followed this kind of pattern, though it isn’t a romance per se.)

On the black moment, though I like this beat, I believe I have read some stories that lack a black moment (don’t remember which stories), yet I still thoroughly enjoyed them… Not trying to make a general statement about this beat, haha, but maybe in certain kinds of stories, the black moment may not be absolutely necessary for an engaging story? I don’t know. Or maybe there was a black moment but I didn’t notice it.

Random comment: I think the mid-point is actually my favorite beat, lol! I love rising complications, new goals, new character revelations, etc. But I like the other beats too.

Hi Mark,

I know what you mean. 🙂 Even thought I know all this stuff, backwards and forwards, I still find new insights every time I explain it to others. Maybe that’s one reason I love to help others with this stuff. LOL!

You’re quite welcome, Sarah! 🙂

Yay! Happy to help, Donna. 🙂