: Re: The Protagonist and the 'Mid Point' of a Screenplay I'm currently working through the preparation process before I start to write my first feature length screenplay, helped in no small part by

@Becky328

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I think I understand what you're trying to do - you're trying to get the audience to go 'uh-oh, Jake is going to be surprised once he gets to the end of the story', when we're following Jake throughout the story.

A couple of points from someone who is similarly struggling with writing (I.E. take any advice I give with a big lump of salt):

1) Don't feel like you have to be shackled to what Syd Fields says about screenwriting. The whole point of making a format is to provide a skeleton for your story. Your story may have more fat and muscle in a different area of the story than what others might do (this can work either brilliantly, or else will cause a BIG problem with your story). Work on what you feel is the right beat for the story. And remember that even once you're done, you only made a first draft - how it'll look later will probably be very different than what you have now.

2) Any twists that you make should be in line with the story and where the protagonist is going to go in the story. I can't quite think of any examples that would parellel what you want to do (my first thought was the 'twist' of Harvey Dent becoming Two-Face in The Dark Knight, but then I realized that the main protagonist in that story is The Joker, who helps shape Harvey into becoming Two-Face), so it should be something that is not going to make the audience lost. If you're bringing in some new character to furnish the twist, for example, that is a good indication that your audience is not going to be able to follow you to where you want to go.

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