I want to write fiction when I grow up, so I've studied the craft for a while now. Everyone wants to write something original, but it turns out only stories that follow certain patterns really stick with people. These story structures go back into ancient times.
The usual way to think of this structure is as three acts. In the first act, the author introduces the characters, establishes the world, then a problem appears. In the second act, the characters attempt to solve that problem, usually only making things worse, at least for a while. Then in the third act, the protagonist faces the problem head on, solves it, and a new normal is established.
Halfway through the second act, everything changes. This is the turning point. Depending on the kind of story, this can take different forms.
In an adventure story, it tends to be where everything falls apart. In the standard Doctor Who story, the Doctor and his companions arrive and start exploring the time and place they're visiting. Something seems odd, and the Doctor decides to poke it with a stick. This takes them into Act 2. They find all kinds of things that aren't right, and eventually the bad guys end up chasing them as they run for their lives. That's the turning point. They try to deal with the danger they've discovered, and eventually the Doctor comes up with a plan. That takes us into Act 3 as the plan is put into motion, and eventually everything comes to a head in the climax where the Doctor will defeat the villain of the week, hopefully putting everything right in the place they're visiting. Then he and his friends move on.
In a common form for crime dramas, our detective gets called to a crime scene and starts to investigate the murder. A suspect quickly appears, so the detective chases him down and begins to interrogate him and look into his alibi. About the half way point, that alibi turns out to be good, so the detective flounders, trying to find a new suspect. The good guys finally put the pieces together to move us into Act 3, where they chase down the real criminal and bring him to justice.
The form that interests us today will, again, introduce the main character and the world, then a problem appears to end Act 1. Act 2 begins with the protagonist reacting to the things that happen, but at the turning point, he goes on the offense. Instead of reacting, he's acting. Finally, things come to a head as he faces down the forces that oppose him and defeats them.
It's not a perfect parallel, but I propose that this is a good way to think about the storyline of the Bible — of history, really.
God creates his good world, but sin enters in. For a while, it seems to be damage control. God reboots humanity in the flood. Then he chooses a family to make a people for himself. They're horrible. He spends over a thousand years trying to teach them to behave, rescuing them again and again from their own messes.
Then the turning point comes: He begins to act to fix the root problem. In our story, the main character, who's always been the protagonist, is somehow born and placed in a manger. He's going on the offense now.
Because history isn't fiction, the next leg of the story is short. Our hero appears to die, but it doesn't stick. He rises from the dead, and now we're in Act 3, waiting for the climactic battle between good and evil. Because history isn't fiction, this leg of the story is long. We've waited centuries for the resolution of this story. But because this story is true, the story behind all stories, we know that day will come.
This week we remember the turning point, the day when God went on the offensive. The best way to keep Christmas is to focus on the hope that we have. Our hero will save the day. He came to rescue us, and rescue us he shall. God will triumph over evil. The new normal will be established: a world with no more sorrow, crying, or pain. Celebrate the turning point by celebrating the victory to come. Maranatha!
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