Story Engineering by Larry Brooks-Milestones

Milestones, according to Larry Brooks, are the points in a story where new information enters the narrative and changes the direction, tension and stakes.

Every milestone is a plot twist, but not every plot twist is a milestone. Without them, you would have no story. Several scenes lead up to them and several scenes spring from them. Milestones are the story.

This is a list of the 8 milestones Larry says are must-haves.

1. Opening scene
2. Hooking moment in the 1st 20 pages
3. The set up of the inciting incident or first plot point. Somewhere around 20% of the story.
4. The first pinch point. Somewhere around the 3/8th mark
5. Context shifting midpoint. The middle of the story.
6. The second pinch point. Somewhere around 5/8th mark of the story.
7. The second plot point.
8. The final resolution scene or sequence.

He does allow for 3 or more additional scenes that set up and surround these milestones.  He says that everything else in the story is connective tissue.

He suggests you need to have these 8 things spelled out before you actually write the story.  Do you agree with him or are you more of an organic writer and let things come as they may.

Does your story have these eight milestones? I'm checking my sequel now....