The milestones for a bestselling story

You may not even realize it, but by reading, gaming, and watching movies you’ve already encountered many of the key milestones that shape a compelling story. Once you’re aware of these key moments, you’ll see them used throughout all forms of entertainment. Even if you’re a discovery writer, it’s good to know about these milestones so that you can stay on the road without veering into the ditch.

We’ll use some famous movies along the way to help illustrate these milestones. As you read through, imagine different moments in your favorite books, movies and games and think about where they slot into the milestones.

Part One: The Beginnings

Hand of the Villain

The first milestone is the “Hand of the Villain” - a subtle hint at what’s wrong with the world, often in the very first sentence or two of the novel. This sets the stage and foreshadows the conflict to come. Often the main character isn’t even present during the hand of the villain. Note that villain is a metaphor for anything that’s wrong. In a romance, it could be loneliness or a life that somehow isn’t complete.

The opening crawl of Star Wars (1977) is a nod to Saturday matinee Buck Rogers shorts from the 1930s and establishes the Galactic Empire’s grip on the galaxy. Note that main protagonist Luke Skywalker doesn’t even show up in the beginning of the film.

Chrissie really shouldn’t have taken that nighttime swim in Jaws (1975) but the viewer’s aware as to what’s about to be so very wrong with the world.

Leon’s violent interview in Blade Runner (1982) showed what Deckard was about to go up against when he’s tasked with *retiring *(killing) Leon and three other artificial people.

Perhaps the most famous hand of the villain is from *Citizen Kane (1941), *with Kane uttering the name of his beloved childhood sled in his last breath. The villain that stalks Charles Foster Kane is his lost childhood and innocence.

The strength of the “villain” is the weakness of the main character magnified many times. Luke doesn’t want to get involved, whereas Darth Vader wants to be very much involved.

Car Crash

Next, there’s the “Car Crash” - after introducing the main character and all their flaws, this is the event that turns their world upside-down. It’s the inciting incident that propels the story forward.

In Doctor Strange (2016), Stephen Strange’s life as a gifted surgeon is changed when he loses control of his car and the nerves in his hands are damaged from the crash. So yeah, literally a car crash.

How about in The Wizard of Oz (1939)? Dorothy’s life is changed when her dog Toto is taken away to be destroyed.

Luke’s life is disrupted when the astromech droid R2-D2 runs away. He’s really going to be in trouble now!

Can’t Go Home

After the main character tries and tries to get back to their normal life, they suddenly realize they can never “go home” again. This is a pivotal turning point where the character must accept that their life has been irrevocably changed.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) has a fantastic example of humor combined with tragedy. Indy thinks all he has to do is recover the medallion from Marion and he can go back to his normal life. Instead, he ends up with the medallion but burns down Marion’s business. The moment is punctuated with Marion making it clear that she expects payback for the loss.

Back on Tatooine, Luke sees the dead bodies of his aunt and uncle and he quite literally can’t go home.

Feather

After realizing they can never go home, the main character is untethered without focus. The “Feather that Tips the Scales” is when something subtle happens, often because of a mentor or sidekick, that tips the main character into action. This is the moment that sets them on their journey. The feather is often used as the cliffhanger that ends Part One.

Dorothy got a little nudge when Glinda tells her to follow the yellow brick road in The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Indy thought Marion was dead and was willing to die as long as he could take down Belloq. Instead, Sallah’s kids arrive and save Indy. The feather is when Sallah (Indy’s sidekick) tells him that life goes on and that the children are the proof.

For history buffs, the feather refers to the Ancient Egyptian goddess Ma’at weighing the heart of the deceased against a feather to see if they led a virtuous life.

Part Two: Trials and Tribulations

Plan

The main character and their supporters arrive at a plan to make things right again. It’s all going swimmingly until…

It’s simple right? Get the droids to Princess Leia on Alderaan and everything will be great. The rag tag ensemble of good guys has managed to escape Mos Eisley Spaceport and are on their way via Hyperspace. Luke even manages to learn a little about lightsabers and use The Force. Everything’s great!

Indy and Sallah find out that the headpiece to the Staff of Ra is two-sided and the bad guys are digging in the wrong place. That allows them to make a plan to find the true resting place of the Ark.

Dorothy meets the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Lion and they have minor victories against the Witch on the road to The Emerald City.

Face of Doom

The plan fails and the main character sees what the world will look like if they never succeed.

Obi-Wan Kenobi senses that millions of people have died. They come out of Hyperspace into a debris field formally known as the planet Alderaan. This is what the galaxy will look like if the Galactic Empire has its way.

Dorothy and her gang makes it to The Emerald City and things are going great until the Witch decides to fly over the city and use her broomstick to sky-write a demand that Dorothy should surrender. This warning causes the public to panic, demonstrating what awaits all of Oz should Dorothy abandon her quest.

Scramble

Undaunted, the main character picks themselves up and tries another plan in the “Scramble,” only to fail again.

In *Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), *Indy has lost the Ark but he and Marion have managed to survive the Well of the Souls. He sets his sights on stealing the Ark before it’s transported away by airplane. His plan fails spectacularly (and Marion is nearly killed) when the plane is destroyed and the bad guys take away the Ark by truck.

For Luke and his team, they have to figure out a way off the Death Star. Along the way they find out Princess Leia is aboard and break her out of jail only to be trapped in a garbage compactor.

False Win

This leads to the “False Win” - the main character finally has the world figured out, they go on the offensive and win! But do they really?

Let’s go back to Indy. Leading up to the false win, he steals a horse (Indy notes that he’s just making things up as he goes) and reaches the truck convoy, eventually taking over the truck with the Ark. He and Marion reunite with the Ark and leave Cairo by boat. Yay, they’ve won!

How about Luke and his crew? Everybody’s on their way to the Millennium Falcon to escape. Luke and the Princess have swung across the chasm, Han and Chewbacca have outsmarted a squad of stormtroopers, R2-D2 and C-3PO have heard the good news and are moving to the ship, and Obi-Wan has deactivated the Death Star’s shields that would prevent their escape. Good job, guys!

Many stories actually end at this point. But for more impact let’s continue because there’s so much more we have to learn about our main character.

Part Three: From Defeat to Victory

Pit of Despair

An homage to The Princess Bride (1987), this particular pit is right after the main character reaches their highest point in the story, when they’ve seemingly won. Instead, it turns out they’ve failed miserably and are at their darkest moment. There’s no hope, they’re doomed.

In *The Wizard of Oz (1939), *Dorothy has killed The Witch (yay!) but the Wizard still refuses to help. Wait. Wasn’t killing The Witch winning? Nope. Dorothy doesn’t know what to do. She’s reached her lowest point and will never get back to Kansas.

In *Alien (1979), *Ripley has escaped from the ship with Jones the cat and is getting ready for a nice long rest. Too bad the Alien is aboard her escape pod!

You want to talk about Star Wars (1977)? Everything was going great until Obi-Wan Kenobi was killed by Darth Vader. Not much of a victory, was it? Luke has lost his mentor with no hope of becoming a Jedi. Also, Han Solo was in it for the money and Luke has lost his sidekick, too.

Epiphany

But then, looking back over all their trials and tribulations, the main character has an “Epiphany” - a new plan forward, sometimes even after losing their mentor or sidekick. This is the lightbulb moment, when the main character gets a glimpse of the way forward.

After Dorothy presents the broom of the dead Witch, the Wizard refuses to take her back to Kansas. Suddenly, Toto pulls back the curtain to reveal the Wizard was a fraud all along.

Indy realizes the Ark is more than an artifact and warns Marion not too look at it.

Chief Brody in Jaws (1975) sees the oxygen tank in the shark’s mouth and although the ship is sinking and he’s lost his companions, he realizes there’s a way to take out that big mean fish.

Better Plan

In the “Better Plan,” the main character and their allies win against all odds, sometimes with the sidekick or mentor who was lost before coming back into the action.

In *Star Wars (1977), *Luke’s “better plan” came from the Death Star plans inside R2-D2. Luke knew he could hit small targets back home on Tatooine, but the plan is never easy. Being able to target the exhaust port isn’t enough, and Luke is reminded by Obi-Wan’s disembodied voice to use the Force. The moment culminates with the return of Han Solo, giving Luke the cover he needs to destroy the Death Star.

Ripley manages to climb into a space suit, evacuate all the air from the escape pod and jettison the Alien, frying it with the engines.

End

Finally, we see the main character in a new light in the “End” - beat up because of their trials but transformed and still moving forward. Often referred to as the denouement, it’s a satisfying ending after a rollercoaster of emotions. But you can decide whether you want that perfect bow-tie or perhaps one that’s a little rough around the edges.

Dorothy made it back to Kansas. Luke, Han, Chewbacca and the droids stand triumphant before Princess Leia in the throne room. Ripley and Jones have a well deserved sleep. Indy and Marion have survived the Ark but the end can have a final twist when the Ark is confiscated by the US government.

Summary

Knowing these key milestones can help you navigate the twists and turns of your story, even as a discovery writer. So keep these in mind as you embark on your own writing journey - they’ll serve as valuable guideposts along the way to keep you out of that literary ditch.