on changing the primary tension

I just read a book called The Wolf and the Woodsman. It’s the debut novel of Ava Reid, and there was quite a lot to like about it. I loved how well-realized the three different religions and magic systems were, and how real the clash between them felt. I (mostly) liked the MC’s defiant attitude. I loved that the story wasn’t shy about stakes and risks. People died. The threat of it always felt close.

Which made the climax all the more confusing. Light spoilers ahead, in service of understanding story structure.

One of the best and darkest moments of this book was its “all is lost” moment, when the main threat of the novel is realized and the MC and her allies, despite having done everything they can to prevent it, must wrestle with their worst fear. The problem? It happens with 10% of the book left.

Now, I don’t subscribe to the idea that every story should fill the exact story beats and their percentages as laid out in story-structure guides like Save the Cat, but I think there’s a reason that Save the Cat puts the “all is lost” moment around the 70% mark: it leaves a full third of the book to explore a brand new tension.

My go-to example of a tension-change at that percentage of a story is the first Hunger Games. It’s not exactly an all-is-lost moment, but it functions similarly. For the first two thirds of the book, the reader wonders: will Katniss survive the Hunger Games? But the third act of that story asks instead whether Katniss and Peeta will save each other. if you’re familiar with the story, I’m sure you’ll remember the way it felt when the rules changed on them. Because despite it seeming to make Katniss’s goal easier, it put more on the line. It raised the stakes: will their budding trust in each other survive? Can they do it?

In The Wolf and the Woodsman, we unfortunately only have about 45 pages thereafter to explore this new world. To resolve it, Ava introduces a brand new element which, to me, did feel like it came out of nowhere. The tension between these two groups of people rose suddenly and inexplicably to the level of battle. How did they all get there? How did they coordinate? I don’t know.

After the inexplicable battle, no information is given about how other things resolve. One of the book’s main tensions is that there are two potential heirs to the crown, with different factions behind them. I was led to believe that these factions had power, that they mattered. Yet, little was done to resolve how they might work together under one heir after the battle.

Now, why am I talking about this? It’s a debut, it was otherwise pretty good, give her a break, Aya!

Ah, yes, but you see:

My book has the same problem.

Don’t look at me like that! I’m gonna fix it! I’ve apportioned all of December to editing my book, after my beta feedback all comes in (only 2 more weeks until I am overwhelmed by feedback!)

But yes, I am here and harping on why this is bad because I am completely convinced that the pacing in my book is a disaster. Which, a few months ago, would have been the best news you could have told me because: it meant that I had finished my book and that all its pieces existed, even if they needed to be stretched or thinned.

If you remember that time I talked about a spicy reveal, I meant the part of my book where the tension abruptly shifts. My MC learns that her original goal is probably completely impossible and is forced to face up to that fact. as it’s currently written, that happens right at the 80% mark.

looking at it now, i feel like this is a totally manageable change.