This week, we take on the task of learning all about the Three Act Structure. What’s that, you ask? Well, the TAS is a plotting tool that is popular in writing screenplays, but it lends itself very well to writing novels. A few weeks ago, I went over the Eight Point Story Arc, which is best used in shorter works.
The TAS can be simply reduced to three different parts: the beginning, the middle, and the end. However, it is not as simple as that. There are different bits and pieces that go into each section and learning how they all work together can help you when planning and organizing your novel. Certain plot events must take place in each of the stages to help keep your story moving along. In addition to keeping your plot moving, it is useful to help you simply plan your novel. As a writer, you want certain things to be happening at specific times, so this is great to make sure everything is addressed.
Let’s get started! As a disclaimer, when I began writing this blog post, I did not plan for it to be the behemoth it turned out to be, so please let me know if you’d like any specific points clarified.
*Note: for this blog post, I got my information from several sources: Writer’s Edit, Reedsy (which has a very cool template), and NowNovel.
Let’s dive into this by checking out a graphic:
I’ll be using the film The Wizard of Oz as an example.
Act One (Set-Up):
- Beginning/Exposition: In the beginning of your first act, you should set up your story and your protagonist the same way as in the Eight Point format. You establish who the main character is and what their life looks like. With Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, we see that she lives on a farm in the middle of Kansas with her aunt, uncle, and dog Toto, and that they’re all very hardworking. During this time, you want to draw your reader in and make them care about your protagonist.
- Inciting Incident: This is the event/catalyst that throws your protagonist’s world into disarray as something out of the ordinary happens in their daily routine. This is one of the most important moments in your novel because without it, the rest of your story wouldn’t exist. When Toto is taken away from Dorothy, that sets a lot of what follows in the rest of the movie into motion. It brings the conflict between her and Mrs. Gulch into the forefront, showing that Mrs. Gulch’s dislike for the dog has real consequences.
- Second Thoughts/Plot Point One: Another name for this plot point is the “turning point.” It’s a moment after the inciting incident where the protagonist is faced with a choice. They’re often faced with a journey of some sorts, and it’s up to them to decide if they want to move forward with it. This is when your main character is set on their path that continues the rest of your narrative. When Dorothy arrives in Oz, she is told by Glinda the Good Witch that she must travel along the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City to speak with the wizard. Dorothy is scared and wants to go home, but she decides to listen to Glinda. That is the jumping off point that sets her adventure in motion.
Act Two (Confrontation):
- Rising Action: This is where your protagonist begins their journey (either literal or metaphorical) and they encounter obstacles/roadblocks along the way. During this time, your readers will be introduced to or better acquainted with secondary characters, including the antagonist. Your readers will also learn more about the overarching conflict. As your protagonist encounters obstacles, they will have to react and change/adapt what they are doing so they can continue along the proper path to achieving their goal. During this section in The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy meets the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion. As they travel along the Yellow Brick Road, they come across difficulties, such as the sleep-inducing poppies.
- Midpoint: The midpoint takes place in the middle of your story (surprise!) and it’s where a significant event takes place that throws everything your protagonist is working toward for a loop. In order to figure out what this event should be, look back at what your main character is trying to achieve. For Dorothy, she was travelling to Emerald City to speak with the Wizard about being sent back home. At the Midpoint, he tells them that he will not help them until they defeat the Wicked Witch. Dorothy thought if she just made it as far as Emerald City, she would soon be on her way back home. Now she is faced with another journey, another hurdle. When planning out your story, consider the goal of your protagonist. What type of event would turn everything on its head?
- Plot Point Two: This is where your protagonist has a moment to reflect about what happened during the Midpoint. Like with the plot point at the end of Act One, this is the moment where your main character has a choice – do they go forward on this journey, even though a wrench has been thrown in, or do they go back? This can come through internal dialogue or even pep talks from other characters around them. They need this opportunity to reflect on their long-term goal and what is the best course of action. What comes next for them isn’t easy, so they need a boost in confidence to move forward. For Dorothy, this is when she and her friends decide to storm the Wicked Witch’s castle instead of giving up.
Act Three (Resolution):
- Pre-Climax: This point isn’t reflected in the above graphic, but it’s an important step to include. The first moments of the third act should be building toward the climax and should occur in the very last section of the book. The pre-climax is where your protagonist and antagonist come to battle, in whatever form that may be. This is also where you can cast doubt in your reader’s minds as to whether your protagonist will succeed. In The Wizard of Oz, this takes place when Dorothy is captured in the Wicked Witch’s castle, and the Wicked Witch discovers that she can’t take the ruby slippers off of Dorothy while she’s alive. She then sets the hourglass and says she will kill Dorothy when it runs out. During this time, Dorothy’s friends are encountering the flying monkeys, so all hope seems to be lost for our heroes.
- Climax: The climax is the end of your story’s overarching conflict. Your protagonist has suffered a form of defeat at the hand of the antagonist in the previous beat, so this is where they reconvene and face off again, one last time. The climax is usually one specific scene, whereas the pre-climax can take place over a sequence of events. In our example, Dorothy throws a bucket of water on the Scarecrow since he is on fire, causing the Wicked Witch to melt as some of the water hits her. In that moment, they defeat the Witch and can return to the Wizard to get their reward.
- Denouement: If the protagonist’s goals aren’t achieved at the same time as the climax, they should be during this point. During this time, any loose ends should be tied up and you should fulfill any promises made to the reader. You don’t want any unfinished plot lines at the end of your story, but you also don’t want to tie everything up with a nice bow and give your readers the sense that everything worked out too perfectly (writing a satisfactory ending will be covered in a future blog post). In The Wizard of Oz, the Scarecrow receives his “brain,” the Tin Man gets his “heart,” the Lion receives his symbol of “courage,” and Dorothy is finally able to go home, back to Kansas.
Whew, that was a lot! Don’t feel intimidated by all the details I gave above and don’t feel limited that you need to align your story with every different type of plot point. The Three Act Structure can be extremely beneficial for new writers who aren’t used to plotting out a large work and it also ensures that each moment in their novel has a clear purpose and direction. Let me know in a comment below if you’ve had experience using it in the past.