For years, I have been talking about story structure (at least I have within my in-person writing groups). And for years, I've been trying to help writers understand that the antagonist is just as important to a story as the protagonist.
It all comes down to understanding both the role of the antagonist in a story and their nature. While I have written about this before, to quickly summarize, the antagonist is simply getting in the way of the protagonist achieving their goals, whatever those goals might be. But that doesn't make the antagonist a villain. In fact, the antagonist can be anything that is getting in the way, be that another character, the weather, societal norms, or the protagonist themselves.
When we're looking at story structure, there will be points within the story where the reader gets to see the antagonist in all their glory. Two critical beat points that are antagonistic beats are known as the pinch points.
Be advised that this blog post refers to beats and sections described in the Mohr Story Structure model.
The Antagonistic Pinch Points
The pinch points (a term coined by Larry Brooks in his book Story Engineering) are moments within the story when we see the true nature of the antagonist without the filter of the protagonist. Even if the story is written from the point of view of your protagonist, these are moments when the reader gets to see what the antagonist is truly capable of, giving the reader the taste of the "evil" that the protagonist is facing.
This idea can be a little confusing, but the trick here is to make the pinch points short. If you are able to get the pinch point down to a single sentence, fantastic.
In a crime story, the pinch points might be when a dead body shows up. In a love story, it might be a moment when the protagonist's internal demons rear their ugly head. In a man-vs-nature story, this could be an event where nature has shown its true force.
Within a long-form story, you will encounter two pinch points.
The first pinch point occurs in Act 2 and marks the transition from Defining the Problems to Fun and Games. It occurs at approximately 35 to 38% through a manuscript.
The second pinch point (which occurs somewhere between 60 and 63%) needs to be a deed that is worse than the previous pinch point. It will start a chain reaction of events, propelling us through Failure Sucks! (the final section in Act 3).
(Please remember that the Mohr Story Structure model employs a four-act structure.)
Let's look at a few examples to see how the pinch points impact on a story.
Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)
In Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), after Luke decides to join Obi Wan Kenobi on his adventure, they meet Han Solo, who agrees to fly them to Alderaan.
The first pinch point is when the Millennium Falcon emerges from hyperspace into an asteroid field—and it turns out that the asteroid field is what remains of Alderaan. Our main characters are then chased by a lone imperial fighter, and they find themselves pulled into the Death Star by a tractor beam—and Obi Wan Kenobi says his famous line: "That's no moon. It's a space station."
The second pinch point of the story occurs after Luke and Han have rescued Leia from her prison cell… and after the trash compactor scene. The second pinch point is actually the fight between Darth Vader and Obi Wan Kenobi. After seeing Luke as he runs across the flight deck, Obi Wan Kenobi chooses to let Darth Vader strike him down, killing him. And we start the chain of events that will ultimately lead to the final act.
San Andreas (2015)
In the movie San Andreas (2015 film starring Dwayne Johnson), we have a man-vs-nature story.
The inciting event is a series of earthquakes that everyone ignores. If you've ever lived in California, you'll know that there are a lot of earthquakes, and it's not normally something that you get worked up about. People living in that area will ignore the events going on around them, clinging to status quo. The extra push in the story comes from the scientists who have proof of increasing seismic activity, and they get ignored. (Why is it in every disaster film, the scientists get ignored? But if they listened to the scientists, we wouldn't have a story.)
The first pinch point is seen when the two scientists are on the dam, collecting measurements. An earthquake hits and the dam is destroyed. As a result, one of the scientists dies.
The second pinch point of that film is when there is a massive quake that results in a tsunami.
Both Star Wars and San Andreas are action-based films, making it reasonably easy to identify how the antagonistic beats play out. But let's take a look at different types of stories.
The Truman Show (1998)
In the movie The Truman Show from 1998, you have a man-vs-society story, where the societal norm has turned the world into a television show that centers around Truman. The inciting event of the story (disrupting the status quo and giving us a hint of the antagonist) is when the light falls from the sky, nearly falling on top of Truman. But of course, Truman is not prepared to accept that his life is fake.
It's not until he's on the beach and it starts raining—but it's only raining on Truman—that he starts to wonder what is really going on. At that point, Truman decides he wants to travel the world; he wants to see what is beyond the town that he has grown up in.
During the first pinch point, he is on his drive home and he spots a homeless man who he believes is his father. Obstacle after obstacle gets in Truman's way of reaching the man, and the homeless man is taken away by the authorities.
The second pinch point is when Truman is having beer with his friend—a conversation that is accompanied by more lies. Truman is reunited with his father, and the movie cuts to interviews with the producer/director of the show (the antagonist personified).
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (by Dr Seuss)
The beloved children's book How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr Seuss is a man-vs-self story at its core. I'm referring to the original book that is 52 pages long. (The movies pace out differently.)
The inciting event is when we learn that the Grinch hates Christmas, though no one knows the reason—and we're told not to ask. The extra push is when he starts to think about what's going to happen come Christmas morning, dreading the noise. And the Grinch decides that he has to stop it from coming (the first point of no return).
The first pinch point is when he's dressed up as St. Nick, and he encounters Little Cindy Lou Who. In this section of the book, he is questioned about his actions by the little girl. This is challenging his inner demons.
The second pinch point is when he goes up to Mount Crumpet to dump all the goodies into the ravine. But he decides to wait, because he wants to hear all the Whos down in Whoville cry. This moment starts a chain of events that leads into the final act of the story.
Regardless of how it manifests, the second pinch point is the start of a chain reaction sequence that happens in Failure Sucks! And it's from there that we head into the final act of the story, ultimately leading to the final climax.
Antagonistic Beats of a Story
I have written a full book about the Mohr Story Structure model, taking a deep dive into each beat point and going into the finer points of the A-story/B-story dynamic, the interplay between the protagonist and the antagonist, the pinch points, and all the other fun parts of crafting a story. In the book, I've have also addressed issues that arise from multiple protagonists with their own story arcs and story structures that incorporate a C-story, a D-story, and as many antagonists as we can throw in. (Hint: The base model still works, but the calculations are no longer simple because of the added layers.)
Antagonistic Beats of a Story will be released to the wild come February 2026.
Meanwhile, if you would like to learn more about story structure, or would like to have me examine your story in a detailed manner, reach out regarding my editorial and writing coaching services.
Antagonistic Beats of a Story
Story is about more than just the protagonist
Regular consumers of story, either written or film, learn to recognize the patterns that come with the rise and fall of action. Story structure models provide reasoning and mathematics to what the readers know by instinct. However, many story structure models focus on the protagonist of the story. The antagonist is often treated as an afterthought or ignored completely. As such, the dynamic interplay between the protagonist and the antagonist is not leveraged to its full potential.
Whether you are writing a romance or a high-octane thriller, gain a better understanding of the antagonist in your story and the significance they have in driving the action.
This book is to be released February 2026.
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