Act One: The three-act structure as a narrative model

The three-act structure is every writer’s favourite narrative model, right? Well, maybe not, but it is mine. Act 1 is my story’s beginning. This is where I take all my notes, scenes, thoughts and images and begin to organise them. At this stage, I know what my story’s about and how it will end, but because I write scenes as they come to mind I then need to tidy up and sort out what scenes go where. Act 1 takes all those puzzle pieces and constructs a neat frame for them, ready for Acts 2 and 3 in the process.

My Act 1 steps look pretty much like this:

Opening – How does my story begin? The anguish of getting that first line, paragraph, chapter just right.

Theme – What is my story’s dilemma? Framing the predicament is vital to carrying the story forward.

Inciting incident – What happens to set my story in motion? Deciding where to kick things into action is a dilemma all of its own.

Opposing argument – What is my antagonist’s response to my protagonist? This is the juicy bit that’s going to keep readers hooked!

End of Act 1 – What decision does my protagonist make that they can’t back out of (and which will take us neatly into Act 2).

Here I pause, with checklist (and cup of tea) in hand, and consider:

• Have I introduced my main character and all my major characters?

• Are their relationships with each other functional (and fundamental) to my story?

• What is my protagonist’s dilemma – is it robust enough to carry the story through to the conclusion?

• Is my antagonist up to the job? The protagonist is the antagonist’s problem, but does my baddie have a quandary of their own which could be fundamental to the story?

• Am I clear about the decision my protagonist will make at the end of Act 1?

• Is my story captivating and is the tension growing?

I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember but was only introduced to the three-act model when I got serious about my writing and started dreaming about publishing. I very soon discovered how much information exists for wannabe writers and almost immediately found myself swamped and wondering which bit of information about how I should write my story was correct. I tried several plotting methods, but my outlines kept returning to the three-act structure, so that’s where I settled.

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