Darcy Pattison has a longish post on the art of the epiphany–that moment in a story where your character reveals something vital. Here’s the top:
“And then, it suddenly dawned on her.”
That phrase is the ultimate cliche for a character epiphany. The term epiphany was originally a religious term referring to the physical appearance of a deity. In fiction, it’s the point at which truth appears before a character; the character learns or understands something.
Elaine Marie Alphin, author of Creating Characters Kids Will Love (Writer’s Digest) and several novels, says, “The epiphany is the moment of self-realization; it’s when the character’s change and growth hits him or her, even if the character doesn’t fully understand it.”