Four is Better Than Three
Acts.
One thing I struggled with when I was starting was the three act structure. Acts I and III I understood, but it was always Act II that felt hard to get my head around. If you don't know, Acts I and III are each usually around 25% of a story. Do a little math and you realize that that means Act II is half the book! And I, like a lot of people trying to understand structure, felt like it was a big chasm you had to fill in with whatever would get you across it. We all know the beginnings and endings of our stories, right? What about that big bit in the middle? Again, half the story?
There's what's called 'saggy middles' and there are 'second act backstory dumps', and other less-than-savory names for things that are done to fill up all this space. But even when you read books about craft, you still end up with clunky things like 'in the first half of the second act, X happens, while in the second half of the second act...', it all gets mushy and complicated.
So, I took some advice long ago to not think about it in terms of three acts, but four. You split Act II in half, so you have four acts that are each 1/4 of the story. Each one has a goal to accomplish, and are bookended by your traditional story points, giving you several shorter bridges with obvious ends to work with, rather than one massive one in the middle.
I won't go into all the details, because then I'd just be writing a book about writing, but if you're a writer, and have been struggling with structure and the actual craft, I highly encourage you to look into how to break a story down into four acts rather than three.
A good place to start is K.M. Weiland's website, https://www.helpingwritersbecomeautho.... She doesn't specifically break it down into four acts, but she makes the three super clear as to what you're supposed to do and when things should happen. I just re-labeled Act II into two parts. Her books on outlining made a huge difference for me, and I hope they can help you, as well. It's just a starting point! Not the be-all, end-all. I have no connection to her, nor have I gotten any money or anything, I just want to share with you a resource and a way of thinking that helped me quite a bit.
Novels, like a lot of things, get easier when you break them down into manageable chunks, and the smaller the better.
***
As a note, I will be taking some much-needed time off next week, so no blog post! And I will (hopefully) not be around on the Twitter, either. Talk to you again in two weeks! Thank you for reading.
One thing I struggled with when I was starting was the three act structure. Acts I and III I understood, but it was always Act II that felt hard to get my head around. If you don't know, Acts I and III are each usually around 25% of a story. Do a little math and you realize that that means Act II is half the book! And I, like a lot of people trying to understand structure, felt like it was a big chasm you had to fill in with whatever would get you across it. We all know the beginnings and endings of our stories, right? What about that big bit in the middle? Again, half the story?
There's what's called 'saggy middles' and there are 'second act backstory dumps', and other less-than-savory names for things that are done to fill up all this space. But even when you read books about craft, you still end up with clunky things like 'in the first half of the second act, X happens, while in the second half of the second act...', it all gets mushy and complicated.
So, I took some advice long ago to not think about it in terms of three acts, but four. You split Act II in half, so you have four acts that are each 1/4 of the story. Each one has a goal to accomplish, and are bookended by your traditional story points, giving you several shorter bridges with obvious ends to work with, rather than one massive one in the middle.
I won't go into all the details, because then I'd just be writing a book about writing, but if you're a writer, and have been struggling with structure and the actual craft, I highly encourage you to look into how to break a story down into four acts rather than three.
A good place to start is K.M. Weiland's website, https://www.helpingwritersbecomeautho.... She doesn't specifically break it down into four acts, but she makes the three super clear as to what you're supposed to do and when things should happen. I just re-labeled Act II into two parts. Her books on outlining made a huge difference for me, and I hope they can help you, as well. It's just a starting point! Not the be-all, end-all. I have no connection to her, nor have I gotten any money or anything, I just want to share with you a resource and a way of thinking that helped me quite a bit.
Novels, like a lot of things, get easier when you break them down into manageable chunks, and the smaller the better.
***
As a note, I will be taking some much-needed time off next week, so no blog post! And I will (hopefully) not be around on the Twitter, either. Talk to you again in two weeks! Thank you for reading.
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