The 3 Act Structure

The classical 3-act structure has it roots deep in pre-history, having initially come from Aristotle’s Poetics. Much of what defined a well written play has now been transferred to not only the art of screenwriting, but also full-length works of fiction.

The main characteristics to remember, are:

that the first act sets up the action
the second act is where the confrontation takes place
while the third act offers the resolution to the story
there should be a plot point at the end of acts one and two, which clearly takes the story in a different direction
there should be at least one strong main character who steers the action
that the story is clearly character-driven, even though the subject matter may concern physical action. In fact, all the important structural story-beats should ideally be linked to the main character and their evolvement throughout the story.
the actions and or reactions of the main character should drive the story forward.

Follow these simple rules and you can’t go too wrong when construction your next novel.