How To Write An Effective All Is Lost Moment And Dark Night Of The Soul
Deep Dive on Four-Act Story Structure Part 8 of 10
The All is Lost is an action beat played out in a single scene or chapter that lands right at the 75% mark of the novel. This event shatters all hope of the protagonist reaching their main external objective. It closes out Act III in Four-Act Story Structure. In Three Act Structure, it’s also called the Third Plot Point.
As the name suggests, the All is Lost moment is your main character’s rock bottom emotional low point.
They were so close to getting what they wanted, but now, because of this event, there’s no chance in hell they’ll recover, or so it seems.
This is when the antagonist force of the story has them by the short and curlies. The protagonist’s back is against the wall ( literally or figuratively), and there are no alternative options other than to face and accept failure. There is no more running, no more hiding. If they return to the life they had before (which many characters do), they find it meaningless because too much has changed for them internally. They are irrevocably caught in a no-win situation, and here is the key: it’s their fault. They made a poor choice in service to their faulty value system.
Yep, their actions have shaped their demise in some way because they have spent the entire story firmly invested in a false belief. Only after the All is Lost moment can they see their shortcomings brought them to this new low.
The All is Lost will strip the character down emotionally and psychologically as low as they can go for them to see how they have been in the wrong.
Whatever they could not lose at the beginning of the story will be lost to them, or they will wind up with whatever they thought they wanted, only to discover it’s meaningless.
Often there is a real or implied death at the All is Lost moment. Something ends here: a relationship, a life, a friendship, a business deal.
The All is Lost is about teaching the character a lesson.
No, not a lesson, THE lesson they must learn to complete the story’s ultimate quest.
The Dark Night of the Soul is the reaction phase that directly follows the All is Lost. Usually, it is played out over several scenes where we see the character processing what has happened and slowly concluding that it was indeed all their fault. Before they come to know the truth, they wallow. They despair. They whine. They wrestle with the damage they have caused themselves and others.
In a positive arc of change story, the combination of the All is Lost and the Dark Night of the Soul allows the character to truly see their shortcomings and rise from the ashes of their own making. In a negative arc of change, the character will turn away from the truth. They will not accept responsibility for their circumstances and become further entrenched in their false belief.
Let’s look to Shrek (yes, again, LOL) for an example of the All is Lost and Dark Night in a positive change arc.
The All is Lost moment comes when Shrek (who has admitted to himself that he loves Fiona and is ready to tell her) overhears Donkey and Fiona talking about how ugly and princess don’t go together.
Shrek thinks Fiona is referring to Shrek’s ugliness, unaware that she is also an ogre and speaking about herself. Shrek is crushed. Angry, he pushes Fiona to Lord Farquaad and Donkey away.
He gets his swamp, but it’s no victory. He wallows, and we see several moments of Shrek’s misery in his new situation—his action having alienated the two people he really cares about. Finally, Donkey returns to Shrek, willing to forgive him (because that’s what friends do), and this last part of the Dark Night allows Shrek to fully attest and atone for what he did. His desire to fix things the right way (by being honest and vulnerable) is ignited.
This is not unusual for an ally to come to our hero’s aid at the end and give them the final nudge they need to see the truth.
Takeaways for the All is Lost
It closes out Act III in Four Act Structure, landing at the 75% mark.
It’s an action beat or moment in the story that usually happens in one swift blow (one scene).
Something ends here. There will be a physical or metaphorical death.
All hope of the protagonist achieving their goal is shattered.
There seems to be no way to recover.
The protagonist is somehow at fault because of a choice/decision they made based on their faulty value system.
Takeaways for the Dark Night of The Soul:
A reactionary beat or sequence where the protagonist processes what happened and see how they are responsible- but they don’t see a way out of it . . . yet!
Usually occurs over several scenes right after the 75% point up to 80%.
Toward the end of the Dark Night, an ally often helps the protagonist see the truth and realize what they must do next.
