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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/27060
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

_The "darkest hour" does not fall at the end, as Daniel Cann claims, nor is it the second turning point, as FraEnrico asserts._

The "darkest hour" is usually called the

# crisis.

The crisis comes after the **midpoint** of the novel. The midpoint, as its name implies, marks the middle of the novel (50%) as well as the middle of the second act. At the midpoint, there is a turn of events and the protagonist decides to become proactive: he or she turns from the hunted to the hunter. The turn of events can both cause the decision or be caused by it.

After the decision to become proactive at the midpoint, the flawed protagonist fails. This **catalyst of the crisis** , which may be a lost battle or the death of a loved one, leads the protagonist into his or her "darkest hour", the **crisis**.

After the crisis, some **catalyst of the second plotpoint** , such as new information, helps the protagonist to understand their fatal flaw.

This understanding allows for the protagonist to make the right decision at the **second plotpoint** , which begins the third act at around three quarters of the novel (75-80%).

* * *

The crisis is not the _climax_, which comes in the third act, close to the end of the novel (immediately before the denouement).

[Some more detail.](https://othernetwork.com/2014/03/01/the-story-structure-countdown-how-different-experts-say-you-should-structure-a-story/)

Original score: 5