Zooming in on Zones 2 & 3 of Story Structure: Plenty of Antagonists and Action

by Lisa Miller

The beginning and ending of stories are essential to enticing readers into our stories and making them want to seek out more from that author.

But I love playing with the middle two zones of a story. They do so much work and provide plenty of entertainment.

What Causes the Response in Zone 2?

Something had to have happened at the end of a story’s Zone 1 for our protagonist to have a response in Zone 2.

That something is the 1^st Plot Point.

One of the most famous 1^st Plot Points comes in The Wizard of Oz movie.

Dorothy’s house has crashed down in Oz and killed the Wicked Witch of the East. The original film literally goes from a black and white Zone 1 into a brightly colored Zone 2.

As a kid, I was mesmerized when Dorothy opens the door to this beautiful, strange world of good and bad witches and Munchkins.

A Second Powerful Shift Takes a Very Different Story Into Zone 3

Ballard is a spin-off from Michael Connelly’s Bosch books and TV series.

In the Ballard TV series, Renee Ballard is an LAPD Robbery Homicide Detective now heading up the RHD Cold Case unit.

I was just loving the show, not thinking about story structure or Landmarks. Then the end of episode 5 came and BAMM. The obvious Midpoint of the story had just been revealed.

The cold case team opens a storage unit to find 14 shoe boxes on metal shelves. Each box has a trophy from the victim of a serial killer they are looking for. One is a bracelet with a cold case victim’s name that they know about. But now there are 13 other victims they must identify.

It was also a visual parallel to the Cold Case unit itself. All those metal shelves with boxes of unsolved murders.

This Midpoint Landmark shifts the Zone 2 Reaction portion of Ballard’s story into the Action of Zone 3. With all this new evidence the team is energized to identify the clues and victims. It’s possible the killer is still active, so there’s no time to waste. Action!

It was so powerful; I knew I had to take a deeper dive into the series.

That’s one way you know the story structure and the Landmarks are effective.

What Ballard’s Story is About?

To make sure my students and I have a clear picture of what their story is, they must create a Story Plotline.

Your one sentence Safari Plotline is going to include:

• PROTAGONIST (Who)
• STORY GOAL (What)
• MOTIVATION (Why)
• KEY CONFLICT (Why not)
• ACTION (How)

The protagonist has a goal, because something is personally at stake if she doesn’t achieve it, but something blocks her path, and so she’s forced to take action.

Ballard Plotline:

Protagonist (Who): Detective Renee Ballard

Story Goal (What): Needs to make a success of the new LAPD Cold Case unit she’s been put in charge of.

Motivation (Why): Because if she doesn’t, she will have to leave the LAPD disgraced.

Key Conflict: (Why not): But her dismissed sexual assault complaint against popular Detective Robert Olivas leaves her few allies and little support within the LAPD. Also, a group of dirty cops don’t want past bad deeds uncovered as any of those cold cases are being worked on.

Action (How): And So, Ballard must mold her new unit, made up of volunteers and reserve officers, into a cohesive team. They must learn how to work together to identify a serial killer/rapist while solving other crimes.

Ballard’s Zone 2: Reaction

The 1^st Plot Point, which takes us into Zone 2, happens at the end of episode 2.

Cold Case member Samira Parker, a former LAPD cop who originally worked on the John Doe cold case and comes into the unit, discovers that the bullet that killed the victim is missing from evidence. Likely a cover up within the police.

So, Zone 2 begins with an awareness that dirty cops are likely working against the Cold Cast unit’s success. Any of the team’s discoveries threaten to expose members of the dirty cop ring.  It’s that twist that drives the rest of the story’s Zones. Not only must Ballard and her team be careful of the bad guys, but they also must keep looking over their shoulder for cops who may be working against them.

The 1^st Pinch-Point is around the middle of Zone 2.

The 1^st Pinch Point is a place in the story where the antagonist(s) are more visible and gaining power. It usually occurs around the middle of Zone 2. In a police procedural, it’s important to get those bad guys woven into the story early.

One of the main functions of Zone 2 is to challenge the protagonist, lower their resistance to change.

Dirty ex-cop Driscoll has arranged for one of his allies, Manny, a handsome, young cop, to get close to Martina. She’s the youngest and likely most susceptible to divulging sensitive information from the work they are doing.

Manny shows up at Martina’s favorite bar and flirts with her. This puts not only Martina but the entire unit in danger if information is leaked to the bad guys.

The 2^nd Pinch Point in Zone 3

Zone 3 is another place for the Antagonist, Antagonistic Force and Obstacles to challenge Ballard and her team.

Ballard wakes up to an assailant strangling her. She fights back and, in the struggle, Ballard crushes his windpipe. She survives. But this attack on her causes her superiors to doubt the unit can continue working on the two important cases they’ve been assigned. These cases are taken away to the Robbery Homicide unit. So not only has the bad guy seriously injured Ballard, their bosses, in the LAPD, have taken away the work they valued.

This moves the story towards its lowest All Is Lost Moment. The team feels defeated and so must find a new purpose and another case to work on.

This is the work of Zone 4 Resolution.

Zones 2 and 3 Challenge the Protagonist

The job of Zone 2 is to wear down and exhaust the Protagonist so their resistance to change is at its lowest point. They are no longer reacting but now willing to act. Take that Leap of Faith into action in Zone 3.

The purpose of Zone 3 is to challenge the Protagonist with a stronger Antagonist and making the Protagonist again resistant to the changes they must make.

Those experiences bring the Protagonist to Zone 4 and finding a Resolution.

Want to learn more? Story Structure Safari will be live at No Stress Writing Academy in September.

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About Lisa

Lisa taught middle-school science and was a certified counselor in Texas for 30 years. Her passion for teaching met her love of writing. After not finding the writing classes she needed, Lisa spent several years on a deep study of story structure. That led her to create a powerful and well-loved online course Story Structure Safari.

She has joined the staff at Deleyna Marr’s No Stress Writing Academy  where she is developing new classes. Her Creating A Constellation of Characters is available there January and June 2027. Story Structure Safari runs every September and April. The next Safari is September 2026.

Top image from Unsplash.