Story & Structure Part 2

The 2nd and 3rd Act

If a screenplay, novel or even short story is going to fall apart it is going to happen in the 2nd act.  Many scripts have been written that both start well and finish well but are unbearable throughout the middle.  Typically a screenplay will be structured as thus: Act 1, pages 1-30 Act 2, pages 30-100 Act 3, pages 100-120.  So breaking this down the combine total for both act 1 and act 3 is 50 pages, while act 2 typically consists of 70 pages.  That's 20 more than both of the other acts combined!  70 pages is a long stretch to get lost in.

So what does the second act consist of and how do you keep yourself from getting lost?  It all comes back down to structure and understanding the dynamics of conflict.

Once your hero crosses the threshold he has enter into what Joseph Campbell referred to as the secondary world.  Nowhere in cinema can this be better exemplified than through the work of one of Joseph Campbell brightest students; George Lucas.  Throwing out anything to do with the prequel (lets just pretend none of that ever happened) examining Star Wars A New Hope, once Luke leaves his home planet he has crossed the threshold and has committed to the journey next the heros are all seized by the empire and dragged into the depths of the Death Star.  This world is completely different from the world that Luke knew and was comfortable with.  This secondary world is also a stark contrast to Luke's life where once he was safe and amongst friends now he is facing danger around every corner and surrounded by enemies.  This secondary world challenges the hero and forces them to fight to survive thusly changing them and molding them into who the could be at the end of the story.

The problem with the second act is that there aren't many waypoints to follow and that is why so many stories die here.  Aside from the arrival in the secondary world there isn't a whole lot more to go off of.

Blake Snyder author of Save the Cat has a few suggestions.  Using his beat sheet he states that the heros should have a section of Fun and Games to let the audience catch their breath, then a midpoint crisis, then the bad guys should close in before everything seems lost.  Now this is all well and fine and there is merit to these words but it is unnecessary if you understand conflict.

The second act is where you get to demonstrate the personality of your hero.  This personality is not demonstrated through words or neat camera set ups; it's demonstrated through choices.  As the old saying goes: "it's not what you say but what you do that matters."  This is as true in life as it is in story.  Your hero should be forced into making decisions and choices through rising conflict and tension.  The choices demonstrate their character and their will, and they can't be as blatant choices between right and wrong studies have shown that even bad people will always make the right choice so in a story the choice between an action that is right or an action that is wrong is no choice at all.  Try to have your hero have to make a choice between two wrong options, or two right options.  Make it as difficult of a choice as possible but bear in mind that the difficulty of the choices has to steadily increase.  Once the pressure is on it can't lessen only increase.

Keeping the pressure constantly up is done through the three different stages of conflict that should be in every scene of your story.  They are: Inner Conflict, Extra-personal Conflict and Exterior Conflict.

Inner Conflict

As the name would suggest this is conflict that the hero has within themselves.  This is their personal struggle between what the think is the right action to take.  Do you go left?  Do you go right?  The decision is yours and yours alone.

Extra-personal Conflict

This is the conflict that your hero has between other people.  Friends, family, lovers and enemies.  Soap operas are dripping with storylines solely diving into extra-personal conflict.

Exterior Conflict

This is the level of conflict with elements outside the human interaction ie The State, Nature, a animated environment.

Theoretically each scene should be built around these three levels of conflict.  Although it is not always possible each scene should contain within it elements of each level.

Through the levels of conflict and the steadily increasing tension you should be able to push your story through to the 2nd act climax and move into the 3rd act.

The third act is simple and light compared to the second but it contains within it tricky elements.

All of the conflict of the 2nd act has been leading up to this one event.  The hero's quest is almost complete but not before one more battle.  One last event that is greater than all those before.  All the little clues and points that you have artfully lain out before this even must come together to reveal something greater than the sum of it parts.

The climax of the last act must result in permanent irreversible change for the hero.  After this event the hero can no longer be who they were when they started.

The tricky part about this is that all the elements you've raised must be tied off in one single act.  If you have developed a sub-plot then it must resolve at the same time as the main story's climax.  Think of it as a series of fuses struck at different points in time all with different length and all culminating into one giant explosion of story.  If all of the fuses don't meet at the same time the grand explosion turns into a dud and you've got yourself a failure.  The best stories are emotionally satisfying.  This does not mean that they have to be "happily ever after" but please don't leave a bad taste in your audience's mouth.

There seems to be a trend going around that started with Lost where writers have written endings that don't satisfy.  This is the literary equivalent of given the finger and a big FU to your audience.  Please don't do this.  And if you're someone that has done this then shame on you.

A satisfying ending is your way to say thank you to your audience.  Thank you for listening, reading, watching my story that has meant so much to me and as a present I'm going to make you feel good things or bad things but they will enrich your life as a result.

So now armed with what little advice I have at my disposal go forth and write that story that has been eating you up inside.  Damn the risks and people's negative opinions.  If you master just a little craft then the rest will come and you will be able to write stories that move people, inspire people and make the world that much of a better place because of it.

Good luck.