2: Every Great Story Opens on This Pivotal Pinch Point - Does Yours?

What do J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, all have in common? Why do they hook you right from the start, pull you into their worlds, and make you care so much about the characters?

The thing they all share is the eight pivotal pinch-point structure of classic storytelling. It’s something I’ve recently fallen in love with—and honestly, if you’re hoping to write a story that captures readers' imaginations one day, it might just become your best friend too.

If you’re also feeling the chill down here in the southern hemisphere, grab yourself a hot drink (or a cold one, if you're somewhere luckier than me), and let’s chat about the opening pinch point of storytelling: Prison / Stasis.

Structure In Writing: Yay Or Nay? (It’s A Yay… Of Course)

As I’ve been learning more about the writing process through my 10 Month First Draft Course with The Writing Studio Australia, I’ve come to realise something that might be obvious to a lot of people—but wasn’t obvious to me until the start of this year: there is a lot of structure behind a good story. And it turns out, it’s nowhere near as simple as just word-vomiting onto a page.

When structure was first introduced to me, I pretty much sneered at it. It felt like the enemy—something that would box me in and kill any creativity. But the more I’ve written with structure in mind, the more I’ve noticed my creativity actually flourish. Because if there’s one thing that kills my creativity faster than rules, it’s having no direction at all. Too many possibilities, too many ways to go? Cue overwhelm and towel-throwing. Decision fatigue is real, you know?

Over the last five months of my writing course—while also working on my first draft—I’ve come to befriend story structure and now see it as a kind of secret recipe for success. It’s always there, gently pointing me toward what comes next.

That said—if word vomit is what gets you through the first draft, do it. Get the story out of your head and onto the page. A first draft’s only job is to exist. It doesn’t need to be good (and if yours is good without a single edit, please tell me your secret). These pivotal pinch points we’re talking about? They’ll come in handy once you start redrafting and shaping your story into something that really lands.

Overview Of The Eight Pivotal Pinch Points Of A Story

1: Prison / Stasis

2: Trigger / Inciting Incident

3: Quest Commences / The First Step

4: Obstacles / Stakes have Raised

5: Split Desire / Critical Choice

6: Surrender / Admit Defeat

7: Go to War / Climax

8: Resolution

Pinch Point 1: Prison / Stasis

Every classic story starts with a character in stasis—trapped or imprisoned by their circumstances.

Put simply - if they weren’t, there’d be no story.

No one wants to read about a woman who already has the perfect, wholesome, balanced family life, the successful job, and the flawless marriage—facing zero obstacles—while you just follow her perfectly ordinary days.

Readers want to go on adventures.

They want to see how she became successful, the trials she faced to build that balanced life, the lessons she learned, and the flaws she had to overcome to find her soulmate and land her dream job.

So take your reader back to the start. Put them in the direst of circumstances to give them something to root for: How is this character going to get out of this situation?

It’s no secret that Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas is my all-time favourite series and a perfect example of starting your story with your character in a prison / in stasis: Celaena Sardothian is literally a prisoner in the Endovier salt mines serving a life sentence. Talk about dire.

How did she end up a prisoner of the crown?

How is she going to get out?

What will she have to sacrifice to break free?

Mission accomplished, SJM—my intrigue is officially piqued.

Pinch Point 1 in Action: Additional Examples in Fiction

The Hobbit opens with a very stagnant Bilbo Baggins, who’s been conditioned by Hobbiton society to never really achieve anything.

Harry Potter is basically a slave in his own home to his dreadful Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, completely unaware of his wizardly powers.

Katniss Everdeen is trapped in District 12—the poorest and most oppressed district of all.

And in A New Hope, Luke Skywalker dreams of becoming a fighter pilot but feels stuck with his duties on the family farm on Tatooine.

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross opens with her brother leaving for the war between the gods.

The Dry by Jane Harper grabs readers by starting with a horrific mass murder.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry kicks off with the main character getting dumped—and she even calls herself the epitome of the uptight, shallow girlfriend type that’s always the villain in every rom-com ever.

Other Tips To Keep In Mind For Pinch Point 1:

• Your readers need to sense there’s a better way—a glimpse of hope that this prison or stasis can shift. Drop hints here and offer your character a chance to move toward that better life, even if they’re not quite ready to take it yet.

• Introduce your world gradually. No info-dumps or overwhelming details right out of the gate—that’s a fast way to lose readers (or bore them) when they’re just stepping into something new.

• Let your reader get to know your main character’s voice, tone, and moral weakness. This is where their character arc truly begins.

• Bring in the other key supporting characters who will play a big role in the story ahead.

The Invitation

Opening your story with your character in some kind of prison—whether it’s an actual external prison or a personal limitation they’ve put on themselves—sets the emotional baseline for everything that follows. Your reader needs to know what’s at stake so they can really feel why things have to change. Pinch Point 1, the point of prison and stasis, is where the transformation begins.

Because let’s be real: if your character isn’t stuck, their journey of growth just won’t land the same way.

So make sure you show your readers, “Hey, here’s the problem. Now, come along with me and see how it all gets solved.”

Happy Writing,

Renee Ella

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