History Main / PlotPivotPoint

--> "Halloween," from ''Theatre/{{Rent}}''

* ''BackToTheFuture'' - The whole plot revolves around Marty [=McFly=] being accidentally sent back into the past, bringing confusion and adventures to his life. Dr. Brown decides to test his new invention in a mall parking lot. He shows off the amazing car and talks with Marty about all the possibilities. He also fails to mention that he stole plutonium from a terrorist group to power his time traveling device. The group shows up, and shoots Dr. Brown. In a panic reaction, Marty gets into the car trying to get away. But once it reaches 88Mph, he is accidentally sent back in time. The pivot point is very subtle, shortly before the time jump. You will see it right at the moment when Brown is demonstrating the panel inside the car, entering important dates as examples where/when he might travel to. If Brown had reset the panel shortly after, or never set it to 1955 while explaining how it worked to Marty, the time machine would not have been configured by the time the terrorists arrived. With the date not set, Marty would've never been sent to the past while trying to outrun the terrorists. Brown would be dead (for real), the entire plot would melt down, and neither sequel would have never happened.

* ''Men In Black (1997)'' - When Kay recognizes Jay's potential to become an MIB agent, he arranges a meeting in a park, opens up the truth about aliens and the secret agency, and offers him a chance to become an agent. Had Jay refused the offer, nothing else could be told and the story would halt to a complete stop.
* ''Jurassic Park (1993)'' - One pivot point in this film revolves around the character Dennis (Wayne Knight), who deactivates the island's security system so he can get away with dinosaur embryos he secretly sold. Once the security system is off, dinosaurs all over the island are let out of cages and begin to cross over protective fences, attacking people at random. Had Dennis not been a greedy bastard, he wouldn't have sold the embryos. Or if he hadn't been an idiot, he would've found another way to carry the embryos out of the island without putting everyone life at risk. If this character had made a different choice, the story telling would never reach the best parts of the plot.
* ''Back To The Future (1985)'' - The whole plot revolves around Marty [=McFly=] being accidentally sent back into the past, bringing confusion and adventures to his life. Dr. Brown decides to test his new invention in a mall parking lot. He shows off the amazing car and talks with Marty about all the possibilities. He also fails to mention that he stole plutonium from a terrorist group to power his time traveling device. The group shows up, and shoots Dr. Brown. In a panic reaction, Marty gets into the car trying to get away. But once it reaches 88Mph, he is accidentally sent back in time. The pivot point is very subtle, shortly before the time jump. You will see it right at the moment when Brown is demonstrating the panel inside the car, entering important dates as examples where/when he might travel to. If Brown had reset the panel shortly after, or never set it to 1955 while explaining how it worked to Marty, the time machine would not have been configured by the time the terrorists arrived. With the date not set, Marty would've never been sent to the past while trying to outrun the terrorists. Brown would be dead (for real), the entire plot would melt down, and neither sequel would have never happened.
* ''Dark Shadows (2012)'' - When Angelique becomes sickly obsessed with Barnabas Collins, she casts a spell that turns him into a vampire. Had she never cast that particular spell, Barnabas would've died with his generation and there would be no story to tell.
* ''Harry Potter series (2001-2012)'' - Believe it or not, the plot pivot in the whole series is composed by two events: the prophecy made by Sybill Trelawney, and the presence of Severus Snape in the moment that prophecy happened. Any other decision made by Lord Voldemort in the matter of the prophecy is a direct consequence of his knowing about the prophecy, considering at the time Severus was still his servant. Any decision made by Lily and James Potter also is a direct consequence of that event. If Lord Voldemort had chosen differently, the story would be different, but not so much. If the Potters also had made different decisions, eventually, their secret might have still fallen apart at some time, or even redirected the story to other events, but not that much different of the story as a whole. But if Severus not at the scene, or had Sybill not made her prophecy, the entire story would never exist. In the first books/films, this event is unknown, so this might be considered a Plot Preassumption for those, but when this part of the story is revealed, the entire story is revealed to be held up by this event. (valid for both films and books)
* ''The Fly (1986)'' - The plot pivot is the result of the three principal characters each making a fateful decision, each leading into the next. '''Stathis''', jealous of his ex-lover Veronica's professional and personal relationship with Seth, decides to jump her on the story of Seth's telepods, leaving a mockup of a magazine cover for her at the loft where Seth lives and works. When '''Veronica''' discovers it -- just as they're celebrating Seth successfully teleporting a baboon from one telepod to the other, a milestone in his work -- she decides to confront Stathis immediately, simply telling Seth that she has to deal with "the residue of another life; I have to scrape it off my shoe and get rid of it once and for all." She promises to return in a few hours. '''Seth''' then makes the TragicMistake that sets up the rest of the film: Rather than trust and wait for her to return and explain all upon being asked (which she does), he gets drunk as he muses over the possibility that he's being cuckolded. His judgment clouded, he decides that since the just-teleported baboon appears to be perfectly fine -- previously he explained to Veronica that he'd send it out for testing to make sure it was okay before moving forward -- he should jump ahead to the climax of his project by teleporting ''himself''. The result is that he ends up genetically fused with a fly that he doesn't notice is in the telepod with him (its computer isn't programmed to teleport more than one living being separately), and slowly begins mutating into a monster.

* '''Men In Black (1997)''' - When Kay recognizes Jay's potential to become an MIB agent, he arranges a meeting in a park, opens up the truth about aliens and the secret agency, and offers him a chance to become an agent. Had Jay refused the offer, nothing else could be told and the story would halt to a complete stop.
* '''Jurassic Park (1993)''' - One pivot point in this film revolves around the character Dennis (Wayne Knight), who deactivates the island's security system so he can get away with dinosaur embryos he secretly sold. Once the security system is off, dinosaurs all over the island are let out of cages and begin to cross over protective fences, attacking people at random. Had Dennis not been a greedy bastard, he wouldn't have sold the embryos. Or if he hadn't been an idiot, he would've found another way to carry the embryos out of the island without putting everyone life at risk. If this character had made a different choice, the story telling would never reach the best parts of the plot.
* '''Back To The Future (1985)''' - The whole plot revolves around Marty [=McFly=] being accidentally sent back into the past, bringing confusion and adventures to his life. Dr. Brown decides to test his new invention in a mall parking lot. He shows off the amazing car and talks with Marty about all the possibilities. He also fails to mention that he stole plutonium from a terrorist group to power his time traveling device. The group shows up, and shoots Dr. Brown. In a panic reaction, Marty gets into the car trying to get away. But once it reaches 88Mph, he is accidentally sent back in time. The pivot point is very subtle, shortly before the time jump. You will see it right at the moment when Brown is demonstrating the panel inside the car, entering important dates as examples where/when he might travel to. If Brown had reset the panel shortly after, or never set it to 1955 while explaining how it worked to Marty, the time machine would not have been configured by the time the terrorists arrived. With the date not set, Marty would've never been sent to the past while trying to outrun the terrorists. Brown would be dead (for real), the entire plot would melt down, and neither sequel would have never happened.
* '''Dark Shadows (2012)''' - When Angelique becomes sickly obsessed with Barnabas Collins, she casts a spell that turns him into a vampire. Had she never cast that particular spell, Barnabas would've died with his generation and there would be no story to tell.
* '''Harry Potter series (2001-2012)''' - Believe it or not, the plot pivot in the whole series is composed by two events: the prophecy made by Sybill Trelawney, and the presence of Severus Snape in the moment that prophecy happened. Any other decision made by Lord Voldemort in the matter of the prophecy is a direct consequence of his knowing about the prophecy, considering at the time Severus was still his servant. Any decision made by Lily and James Potter also is a direct consequence of that event. If Lord Voldemort had chosen differently, the story would be different, but not so much. If the Potters also had made different decisions, eventually, their secret might have still fallen apart at some time, or even redirected the story to other events, but not that much different of the story as a whole. But if Severus not at the scene, or had Sybill not made her prophecy, the entire story would never exist. In the first books/films, this event is unknown, so this might be considered a Plot Preassumption for those, but when this part of the story is revealed, the entire story is revealed to be held up by this event. (valid for both films and books)
* '''The Fly (1986)''' - The plot pivot is the result of the three principal characters each making a fateful decision, each leading into the next. '''Stathis''', jealous of his ex-lover Veronica's professional and personal relationship with Seth, decides to jump her on the story of Seth's telepods, leaving a mockup of a magazine cover for her at the loft where Seth lives and works. When '''Veronica''' discovers it -- just as they're celebrating Seth successfully teleporting a baboon from one telepod to the other, a milestone in his work -- she decides to confront Stathis immediately, simply telling Seth that she has to deal with "the residue of another life; I have to scrape it off my shoe and get rid of it once and for all." She promises to return in a few hours. '''Seth''' then makes the TragicMistake that sets up the rest of the film: Rather than trust and wait for her to return and explain all upon being asked (which she does), he gets drunk as he muses over the possibility that he's being cuckolded. His judgment clouded, he decides that since the just-teleported baboon appears to be perfectly fine -- previously he explained to Veronica that he'd send it out for testing to make sure it was okay before moving forward -- he should jump ahead to the climax of his project by teleporting ''himself''. The result is that he ends up genetically fused with a fly that he doesn't notice is in the telepod with him (its computer isn't programmed to teleport more than one living being separately), and slowly begins mutating into a monster.

Do not confuse a pivot point with a PlotPreassumption, which is still part of the plot but encompasses everything that happened and/or is established before the story telling begins. Preassumptions are referenced inside the story telling as facts and accepted as truth by its characters. See the wikipage for PlotPreassumption for more details.

* '''Back To The Future (1985)''' - The whole plot revolves around Marty [=McFly=] being accidentally sent back into the past, bringing confusion and adventures to his life. Dr. Brown decides to test his new invention in a mall parking lot. He shows off the amazing car and talks with Marty about all the possibilities. He also fails to mention that he stole plutonium from a terrorist group to power his time traveling device. The group shows up, and shoots Dr. Brown. In a panic reaction, Marty gets into the car trying to get away. But once it reaches 88Mph, he is accidentally sent back in time. The pivot point is very subtle, shortly before the time jump. You will see it right at the moment when Brown is demonstrating the panel inside the car, entering important dates as examples where/when he might travel to. If Brown had reset the panel shortly after, or never set it to 1955 while explaining how it worked to Marty, the time machine would not have been configured by the time the terrorists arrived. Marty would've never been sent to the past, and possibly killed by the terrorists, not having the ability to escape via time travel. Brown would be dead (for real), and the entire plot would melt down, and neither sequel would have never happened.

* '''Back To The Future (1985)''' - The whole plot revolves around Marty [=McFly=] being accidentally sent back into the past, bringing confusion and adventures to his life. Dr. Brown decides to test his new invention in a mall parking lot. He shows off the amazing car and talks with Marty about all the possibilities. He also fails to mention that he stole plutonium from a terrorist group to power his time travelling device. The group shows up, and shoots Dr. Brown. In a panic reaction, Marty gets into the car trying to get away. But once it reaches 88Mph, he is accidentally sent back in time. The pivot point is very subtle, shortly before the time jump. You will see it right at the moment when Brown is demonstrating the panel inside the car, entering important dates as examples where/when he might travel to. If Brown had reset the panel shortly after, or never used it to talk to Marty, the time machine would not have been configured by the time the terrorists arrived. Marty would've never been sent to the past, but instead just driven away, found a police station, reported the incident. Brown would be dead (for real), and the entire plot would melt down, including both sequels that would've never happened.

* '''The Fly (1986)''' - Just as they're celebrating Seth successfully teleporting a baboon from one telepod to the other, a milestone in his work, Veronica finds a package left for her at the loft from her editor/ex-lover Stathis. It reveals that he intends to jump her on revealing Seth's work to the world. Telling Seth that she has to deal with "the residue of another life; I have to scrape it off my shoe and get rid of it once and for all", she promises to return in a few hours and heads out to confront Stathis. Then comes the pivot: Rather than have faith and patiently wait for her to return and explain all upon being asked (which she does), Seth gets drunk on the bottle of champagne they were sharing as he muses over the possibility that he's being cuckolded. His judgment clouded, he decides that since the just-teleported baboon appears to be perfectly fine -- previously he explained to Veronica that he'd send it out for testing to make sure it was okay before moving forward -- he should jump ahead to the climax of his project by teleporting ''himself''. The result is that he ends up genetically fused with a fly that he doesn't notice is in the telepod with him (its computer isn't programmed to teleport more than one living being separately), and slowly begins mutating into a monster.

* '''The Fly (1986)''' - Just as they're celebrating the perfecting of Seth's telepods, Veronica finds a package left for her at the loft from her editor/ex-lover Stathis, which reveals that he intends to jump her on revealing Seth's work to the world. Telling Seth that she has "the residue of another life; I have to scrape it off my shoe and get rid of it once and for all", she promises to return in a few hours and heads out to confront Stathis. Then comes the pivot: Rather than have faith in his sweetheart and patiently wait for her to return and explain all (which she does), Seth gets drunk on the bottle of champagne they were sharing, musing over the possibility that he's being cuckolded. His judgement now clouded, he decides that since the baboon he successfully teleported appears to be perfectly fine (previously he'd told Veronica that he'd send it out for testing to make sure it was okay before moving forward with further experiments), he should jump ahead to the climax of his project by teleporting ''himself'', tossing all caution to the winds. The result is that he ends up genetically fused with a fly that he doesn't notice is in the telepod with him, and slowly begins mutating into a monster.

* '''Back To The Future (1985)''' - The whole plot revolves around Marty McFly being accidentally sent back into the past, bringing confusion and adventures to his life. Dr. Brown decides to test his new invention in a mall parking lot. He shows off the amazing car and talks with Marty about all the possibilities. He also fails to mention that he stole plutonium from a terrorist group to power his time travelling device. The group shows up, and shoots Dr. Brown. In a panic reaction, Marty gets into the car trying to get away. But once it reaches 88Mph, he is accidentally sent back in time. The pivot point is very subtle, shortly before the time jump. You will see it right at the moment when Brown is demonstrating the panel inside the car, entering important dates as examples where/when he might travel to. If Brown had reset the panel shortly after, or never used it to talk to Marty, the time machine would not have been configured by the time the terrorists arrived. Marty would've never been sent to the past, but instead just driven away, found a police station, reported the incident. Brown would be dead (for real), and the entire plot would melt down, including both sequels that would've never happened.

--> "Halloween," from ''Theater/{{Rent}}''

It is possible for a plot to have more than on pivot point, but the main one can be considered to be the one that occurs earliest in the story telling. It is also possible for plots to have no pivot points at all. However, most Hollywood productions will have at least one that can be easily spotted.

* '''Harry Potter series (2001-2012)''' - Believe it or not, the plot pivot in the whole series is composed by two events: the prophecy made by Sybill Trelawney, and the presence of Severus Snape in the moment that prophecy happened. Any other decision made by Lord Voldemort in the matter of the prophecy is a direct consequence of he knowing about the prophecy, considering at the time Severus was still his servant. Or any decision made by Lily and James Potter also is a direct consequence of the event. If Lord Voldemort had chosen differently, the story would be different, but not so much, and if the Potters also had made other decision, eventually, their secret would fall apart at some time, or even redirected the story to other events, but not that much different of the story as a whole. But if Severus was not in the scene, or Sybill did not made this prophecy, the entire story would never exist. In the first books/films, this event is unknown, so this might be considered a Plot Preassumption for those, but when this part of the story is revealed, the entire story is revealed to be stood up by this event.(valid for both films and books)

It is possible for a plot to have more than on pivot point, but the main one can be considered to be the one that occurs earilest in the story telling. It is also possible for plots to have no pivot points at all. However, most Hollywood productions will have at least one that can be easily spotted.

* '''Men In Black (1997)''' - When Kay recognizes Jay's potential to become an MIB agent, he arrenges a meeting in a park, opens up the truth about aliens and the secret agency, and offers him a chance to become an agent. Had Jay refused the offer, nothing else could be told and the story would halt to a complete stop.
* '''Jurassic Park (1993)''' - One pivot point in this film revolves around the character Dennis (Wayne Knight), who deactivates the island's security system so he can get away with dinossaur embrios he secretly sold. Once the security system is off, dinossaurs all over the island are let out of cages and begin to cross over protective fenses, attacking people at random. Had Dennis not been a greedy bastard, he wouldn't have sold the embrios. Or if he hadn't been an idiot, he would've found another way to carry the embrios out of the island without putting everyone life at risk. If this character had made a different choice, the story telling would never reach the best parts of the plot.
* '''Back To The Future (1985)''' - The whole plot revolves around Marty McFly being accidentaly sent back into the past, bringing confusion and adventures to his life. Dr. Brown decides to test his new invention in a mall parking lot. He shows off the amazing car and talks with Marty about all the possibilities. He also fails to mention that he stole plutonium from a terrorist group to power his time travelling device. The group shows up, and shoots Dr. Brown. In a panic reaction, Marty gets into the car trying to get away. But once it reaches 88Mph, he is accidentally sent back in time. The pivot point is very subtle, shortly before the time jump. You will see it right at the moment when Brown is demonstrating the panel inside the car, entering important dates as examples where/when he might travel to. If Brown had reset the panel shortly after, or never used it to talk to Marty, the time machine would not have been configured by the time the terrorists arrived. Marty would've never been sent to the past, but instead just driven away, found a police station, reported the incident. Brown would be dead (for real), and the entire plot would melt down, including both sequels that would've never happened.
* '''Dark Shadows (2012)''' - When Angelique becomes sickly obssessed with Barnabas Collins, she casts a spell that turns him into a vampire. Had she never cast that particular spell, Barnabas would've died with his generation and there would be no story to tell.
* '''Harry Potter series (2001-2012)''' - Believe it or not, the plot pivot in the whole series is composed by two events: the prophecy made by Sibill Trelawney, and the presence of Severus Snape in the moment that prophecy happened. Any other decision made by Lord Voldemort in the matter of the prophecy is a direct consequence of he knowing about the prophecy, considering at the time Severus was still his servant. Or any decision made by Lilly and James Potter also is a direct consequence of the event. If Lord Voldemort had chosed differently, the story would be different, but not so much, and if the Potters also had made other decision, eventually, their secret would fall apart at some time, or even redirected the story to other events, but not that much different of the story as a whole. But if Severus was not in the scene, or Sibill did not made this prophecy, the entire story would never exist. In the first books/films, this event is unknown, so this might be considered a Plot Preassumption for those, but when this part of the story is revealed, the entire story is revealed to be stood up by this event.(valid for both films and books)

* '''Back To The Future (1985)''' - The whole plot revolves around Marting being accidentaly sent back into the past, bringing confusion and adventures to his life. Dr. Brown decides to test his new invention in a mall parking lot. He shows off the amazing car and talks with Martin about all the possibilities. He also fails to mention that he stole plutonium from a terrorist group to power his time travelling device. The group shows up, and shoots Dr. Brown. In a panic reaction, Martin gets into the car trying to get away. But once it reaches 88Mph, he is accidentally sent back in time. The pivot point is very subtle, shortly before the time jump. You will see it right at the moment when Brown is demonstrating the panel inside the car, entering important dates as examples where/when he might travel to. If Brown had reset the panel shortly after, or never used it to talk to Martin, the time machine would not have been configured by the time the terrorists arrived. Martin would've never been sent to the past, but instead just driven away, found a police station, reported the incident. Brown would be dead (for real), and the entire plot would melt down, including both sequels that would've never happened.

... would the plot follow a completely different path? Or would there be any story left to tell at all?

If the answer is NO, then you have found a pivot point.

is a specific moment during the story telling where if something different had happened, or if some character had taken a different decision, the entire plot would collapse and there would be no story left to tell.

is a specific moment during the story telling where if something different had happened, or if some character had taken a different decision, the entire Plot would collapse and there would be no story left to tell.

It is possible for a Plot to have more than on pivot point, but the main one can be considered to be the one that occurs earilest in the story telling. It is also possible for Plots to have no pivot points at all and still be able to tell a story. However, most Hollywood productions will have at least one that can be easily spotted.

Pivot points may appear anywhere in the story timeline, some as early as the first chapter of a book or the first 10 minutes into a movie. Others may appear only at the final pages or at the end of the movie. The events surrounding the pivot point may be somewhat irrelevant to the main Plot, and may even last only a split second, but they are crucial for the Plot's continuation. You can easily identify them by asking yourself key questions like:

* If event X had not happened...

... would the Plot follow a completely different path? Or would there be any story left to tell at all?

If the answer is NO, then you found a pivot point in the Plot.

Do not confuse a pivot point with a PlotPreassumption, which is still part of the plot but encompasses everything that happened, and/or is established, before the story telling begins. It is referenced inside the story telling as a fact and accepted as truth by its characters. See the wikipage for PlotPreassumption for more details.

* '''Jurassic Park (1993)''' - One pivot point in this film revolves around the character Dennis (Wayne Knight), who deactivates the island's security system so he can get away with dinossaur embrios he secretly sold. Once the security system is off, dinossaurs all over the island are let out of cages and begin to cross over protective fenses, attacking people at random. Had Dennis not been a greedy bastard, he wouldn't have sold the embrios. Or if he hadn't been an idiot, he would've found another way to carry the embrios out of the island without putting everyone else's life at risk. If this character had made a different choice, the story telling would never reach the best parts of the Plot.
* '''Back To The Future (1985)''' - The whole Plot revolves around Marting being accidentaly sent back into the past, bringing confusion and adventures to his life. Dr. Brown decides to test his new invention in a mall parking lot. He shows off the amazing car and talks with Martin about all the possibilities. He also fails to mention that he stole plutonium from a terrorist group to power his time travelling device. The group shows up, and shoots Dr. Brown. In a panic reaction, Martin gets into the car trying to get away. But once it reaches 88Mph, he is accidentally sent back in time. The pivot point is very subtle, shortly before the time jump. You will see it right at the moment when Brown is demonstrating the panel inside the car, entering important dates as examples where/when he might travel to. If Brown had reset the panel shortly after, or never used it to talk to Martin, the time machine would not have been configured by the time the terrorists arrived. Martin would've never been sent to the past, but instead just driven away, found a police station, reported the incident. Brown would be dead (for real), and the entire Plot would melt down, including both sequels that would've never happened.

is a specific moment where if something different had happened, or if some character had taken a different decision, the entire Plot would collapse and there would be no story left to tell.

!Be careful!
Do not confuse a plot's pivot point with a PlotPreassumption, which is still part of the plot, but encompasses everything that happened to the characters before the story telling begins. It is referenced inside the story telling as a fact and accepted as truth by its characters. See the wikipage for PlotPreassumption for more details.

* '''Men In Black (1997)''' - When Kay recognizes Jay's potention to become an MIB agent, he arrenges a meeting in a park, opens up the truth about aliens and the secret agency, and offers him a chance to become an agent. Had Jay refused the offer, nothing else could be told and the story would halt to a complete stop.
* '''Jurassic Park (1993)''' - One pivot point in this film revolves around the character Dennis (Wayne Knight), who deactivates the island's security system so he can get away with dinossaur embrios he wishes to sell. Once the security system is off, dinossaurs all over the island are let out of cages and begin to cross over protective fenses, attacking people at random. Had Dennis not been a greedy bastard, he wouldn't have sold the embrios. Or if he hadn't been an idiot, he would've found another way to carry the embrios out of the island without putting everyone else's life at risk. If this character had made a different choice, the best story telling would never reach the best parts of the Plot.
* '''Back To The Future (1985)''' - The whole Plot revolves around Marting being accidentaly sent back into the past, bringing confusion and adventures to his life. At the beginning of the film, Dr. Brown arranges for Martin to meet him at the parking lot of a mall to test his newest inveition. Brown demonstrates the amazing car and talks with Martin about all the possibilities. He also fails to mention that he stole plutonium from a terrorist group to power his time travelling device. The group shows up at the mall, and shoots Brown. In a panic reaction, Martin gets into the car trying to get away. But once it reaches 88Mph, he is accidentally sent back in time. The pivot point is very subtle, shortly before the time jump. You will see it right at the moment when Brown is demonstrating the panel inside the car, entering important dates as examples to where/when he might travel to. If Brown had reset the panel shortly after, or never used it to talk to Martin, the time machine would not have been configured by the time the terrorists arrived. Martin would've never been sent to the past, but instead just driven away, found a police station, reported the incident. Brown would be dead (for real), and the entire Plot would melt down, including both sequels that would've never happened.
* '''Dark Shadows (2012)''' - When Angelique becomes sickly obssessed with Barnabas Collins, she casts a spell that turns him into a vampire. Had she never cast any spells, Barnabas would've died with his generation and there would be no story to tell.

Pivot points may appear anywhere in the story timeline, some as early as the first chapter of a book or the first 10 minutes into a movie. Others may appear only at the final pages or at the end of the movie. The events surrounding the pivot point may be somewhat irrelevant to the main Plot, and may even last only a split second. But they are crucial for the Plot's continuation. You can easily identify them by asking yourself key questions like:

... would the Plot follow a completely different path? Or would there by any story left to tell at all?

It is possible for a Plot to have more than on pivot point, but the main one can be considered to be the one that's occurs earilest in the story telling. It is also possible for Plots to have no pivot points at all and still be able to tell a story. However, most Hollywood productions will have at least one that can be easily spotted.

Pivot points may appear anywhere in the story timeline, some as early as the first chapter of a book or the first 10 minutes into a movie. Others may appear only at the final pages or at the end of the movie. The events surrounding the pivot point may be somewhat irrelevant to the main Plot, and may even last only a split second, But they are crucial for the Plot's continuation. You can easily identify them by asking yourself key questions like:

A pivot point is a specific moment where if something different had happened, or if some character had taken a different decision, the entire Plot would collapse and there would be no story left to tell.

!!Be careful!

!!Examples of pivot points

A pivot point in a Plot is a specific moment where if something different had happened, or if some character had taken a different decision, the entire Plot would collapse and there would be no story left to tell.

!!How can I find a pivot point in the plot?