My book coach Jennie has me working on the end of my book (better to know where you’re going). We were discussing the “aha!” scene, the moment when the protagonist finally gets it.
Gets what? Gets whatever it is s/he was looking for. Remember that a character has an internal desire, something that started before the novel does. Something has gotten in the way of that desire–both her misbeliefs (her own thoughts and fears) and external obstacles (plot).
In Lyra’s case, she wants control over her own life. She wants to make decisions for herself and she wants to not move again when her parents insist they have to pack up and leave immediately.
Her misbelief is that she feels she has no control–and even when she does, she messes up. When she tries to exert control in the opening scene by defying her parents and refusing to go on the run, catastrophe ensues.
But she will learn that she has control–just maybe not in the way she thought. She’ll learn that while she can’t outrun her fate (she can’t rid herself of her phoenix cells and she can’t stop the government from coming after her), she can take a stand.
Where and how she learns this is her “aha!” moment. Where she either finally gets what she wants or accepts that she can’t get what she wants.
Jennie suggests this comes about by showing a secondary character struggling with a similar problem. By witnessing that other character’s decisions, the protagonist can either:
a) be inspired and emulate the other person or
b) recognize that the other person is making the same decisions she did–and now she sees how wrong they were–therefore she can make the opposite choice.
We often look to others to help us make our decisions (isn’t that what stories are for, after all?); it makes sense that characters would do the same.
Not only does it make so much sense, it also makes it so much easier to write. I don’t have to twist my character into unnatural contortions for her to learn her lessons; I only have to set up a situation that mirrors her own: A teen who feels s/he has no control… who thinks s/he can outrun fate…
Considering I have only one other significant teen character, the choice was easy.
Daaaavid! Come on down! You’re the next contestant on “The Choice is Right”!
(Lyra, I hope you’re watching.)