In his book, 'Write your Novel from the Middle,' James Scott Bell outlines a new approach to novel structure that can be incorporated to strengthen a person's novel, whether they're a plotter, a panster, or a bit of both. This approach relies on what he found 'was a MOMENT in the middle (of a story) that pulled together the entire narrative.' He calls it the 'look in the mirror moment.' It is 'the moment that tells us what the novel or movie is really about.'

Bell asserts that around the middle of every successful book, 'the character looks at himself. He takes stock of where he is in the conflict...' It is not a scene, but a moment in a scene.

If it's a character driven story the character reflects on what sort of person he is. 'What is he becoming?' 'What will he have to do to overcome his inner challenges.'

If it is a plot-driven fiction the character 'looks at himself and considers the odds against him. At this point the forces seem so vast that there is virtually no way to go on and not face certain death.' Bell emphasizes that this mid-point is a CHARACTER POINT, something happening internally, rather than an external plot point. He also suggests that the plot driven 'look' and the character driven 'look' can be combined i.e. In a plot driven book the character's moment of facing death, may combine with the character reflecting on who he is/ who he is becoming.

My first reaction after reading this was to check the first draft of a YA fantasy I'm currently revising to see if there was a Mirror Moment. I flicked toward the middle and searched around to see whether there was something already there that I could sharpen or work on. I discovered a moment where my main character finally finds her slaved younger brother, half-starved and ravaged by hopelessness. Up until now she has been fighting to get her brother back. But this moment, rather than triumphant, is more like a threat of psychological death for her - her brother is no longer the boy he was. His captivity, his fading belief his sister would find him, has lead to his own hopelessness and self-destruction. The young boy she was fighting for has been broken and irrevocably changed. In the next scene, my sixteen-year-old protagonist comes face to face with the woman responsible for her brother's situation, and that still holds power over him and will not give him up. This antagonist is a woman motivated by a desire to save her own son.

With Bell's thesis in mind of this mid-moment being what the novel is really about, I realized that though my central theme was lurking in these middle pages, I hadn't consciously realized it was there. The woman holding my main character's brother is almost a mirror to my MC. But I hadn't created an actual Mirror Moment. I didn't yet have my character in some semi-conscious way comparing herself to this adversary, or recognizing that what she was prepared to do to save her brother, might be equally horrendous.

I knew my main character's internal conflict lay around feeling profoundly disconnected and desperately wanting to feel part of the world, but looking at this mirror moment, I realized I could connect this more concretely to my theme... And there were already hints of it in other places of the manuscript. The theme loosely drifting through my first draft orientated around violence, and how if we're all somehow connected, then when we hurt and destroy others (however seemingly justified or good the reason) we hurt and destroy pieces of ourselves. By having a small, subtle moment in my book, where the MC 'sees' she might be capable of just as much violence as the woman who holds her brother, I now have the chance to show how my character's strength (unrelenting determination and persistence) might also become a weakness, a hidden character flaw... And how her strength might also be stopping her from getting what deep down she craves most - this feeling of connection.

If you've got a first draft (or revised draft), why not take a look and see if something happens around the middle of your novel that reveals a deeper part of your MC, or just how far she/ he might have to go to change by the end of the novel?

As noted above, in his book 'Writing from the Middle' Bell explains that in a plot driven novel a Mirror Moment can be a moment when the protagonist faces death. However, I would actually argue that to make the most of this 'technique' it's worth ensuring your character's Mirror Moment has something to do with their 'character flaw', 'inner conflict' or the theme of your work. The only fiction example Bell gave of a plot-driven 'facing death' moment that did not hint at inner conflict or theme was from the Hunger Games. He writes:

'At the midpoint of THE HUNGER GAMES, Katniss accepts the fact that she's going to die. The odds are too great:

I know the end is coming. My legs are shaking and my heart is too quick.... My fingers stroke the smooth ground, sliding easily across the tops. This is an okay place to die, I think.'

My own viewpoint on this, is that once the protagonist has been thrown in a new direction by the inciting incident, the 'second act' is all about the death stakes. This means the protagonist is facing death of some sort (physical, psychological, romantic...) throughout the middle section of the novel. Just fifteen pages after the above quote from The Hunger Games, Katniss once again thinks it could all be over for her:

'Still they are closing in, just like a pack of wild dogs....This could be it, I think. What chance do I have against them?'

Having read The Hunger Games a couple of times, there is a scene that has always stood out to me. It comes thirty-five pages before the Mirror Moment Bell suggests.

I bite my inner lip, feeling inferior. While I've been ruminating on the availability of trees, Peeta has been struggling with how to maintain his identity. His purity of self. "Do you mean you won't kill anyone?" I ask.

"No, when the time comes, I'm sure I'll kill just like everybody else... Though I keep wishing I could think of a way to... to show the Capitol they don't own me. That I'm more than just a piece in their Games," says Peeta.

This moment opens a doorway to Katniss - It forces herself to take stock of herself and the fact that she just wants to survive the Games. She has no intention of making some sort of statement with a 'noble death.' But that's exactly what she does in the climax. She convinces Peeta that they should take poisoned berries together. She risks her life to save him. Either they both die or they both live. Katniss gambles that the Game makers have to have a victor and will chose two victors over two deaths. Her risk pays off. She shows them that she is more than a piece in their Games. I think this reveals far more about how Katniss has changed and what the Hunger Games is about, than the moment Katniss decides this is an OK place to die.

Testing out Bell's theory I took a look at one of the last books I've read, best-selling YA fantasy 'The Girl of Fire and Thorns,' by Rae Carson. The main character, Elisa, begins the story with a severe lack of self-esteem. She is over weight, clumsy, lacking in confidence and easily brought to tears. In the first chapter she explains:

My sister hates me. Nurse Xiemena says it's because I was chosen by God for an act of service and Juana-Alodia was not. God should have chosen her; she is athletic and sensible, elegant and strong.

Elisa is basically telling us here that her sister is everything she is not and that she, Elisa, does not deserve to be chosen by God.

There is a small moment just before the middle of 'The Girl of Fire and Thorns' where the narrator prays for faith. While praying she says:

I have so many doubts about God and His Will.... I still don't know the purpose of the Godstone living inside me.

It is very short and concise, but having searched the middle of the book, I came to the conclusion that this is the character's true Mirror Moment. (And lets not forget, most successful authors are probably doing this instinctively!) There is also a point just after half way through the story when the MC is captured by the antagonist, a powerful, unbeatable sorcerer who intends to kill her. The character looks as though she is facing certain death and so this would fit Bell's second definition of the plot-driven 'look in the mirror.' But that later scene doesn't tell us what the novel is really about. However, when Elisa prays for faith, we glimpse her internal conflict/ 'her flaw' - lack of faith.

To see if my analysis held, I flicked through to the end of 'The Girl of Fire and Thorns' and found a moment between MC and her nurse which 'captures' the character's ultimate transformation and the theme of the story:

"You see, my sky?" Xiema whispers. "God was right to choose you."....

Understanding hits me like a rock in my gut, and I gasp just a little. I know God selected me because I needed a push, but Xiemena is right, too - I rose to the choosing. I didn't need faith in God so much as I needed faith in myself.

If the reader wasn't sure before, this passage clearly illustrates that the theme of faith and the character's internal conflict of not believing in herself, is what The Girl of Fire and Thorns is all about.

As I've only just come across Bell's 'Mirror Moment' theory, I'm looking forward to testing it out more on what I'm reading. If you're willing to invest a couple of dollars, his book is worth buying. (It's not expensive to download, but it is pretty short.)

If you're thinking about how you can use this writing strategy based on what you've read here, you might want to start brainstorming ideas with the following questions.

What is your MC's main internal conflict? (This is going to be value orientated - your character wants to be popular i.e. values popularity, but also doesn't want to hurt other people, i.e. values kindness.)

Do you know how you want your MC to grow/ change by the end of the book? Have you already got an idea of what their transformation moment might be?

Are there any themes you've seen emerging in your writing/ story?

If you have a first draft, does anything happen around the mid-point that forces your character to 'see' something about themselves? Something they are, something they're not, something maybe they lack?

Hope this technique inspires you as it inspired me! I would love to read any comments on how helpful you think this approach is. And if you enjoyed this chapter, please make my day, and vote!