How to Use the Three Act Structure to Plot Your Story

  • Post category:Lore

General Notes

The notes for this video are structured on the sequence I went through to develop my example story.  The exact sequence you use may be different depending on what your ideas are and where they lead you.  As I can’t cover all possibilities, I’ve adjusted the notes here as much as possible to provide ideas concerning the development of each stage of the Three Act Structure.  They are in the structure’s order but somewhat conform to my example.  The final sections are on more general troubleshooting and overcoming roadblocks.

You may find it helpful to also reference the resources from the companion video “A Deep Dive into the Three Act Structure and why it is so Powerful.”

What do you need to Get Started?

  • Scratch Paper
    • On a sheet of paper or in an Excel file, or however you brainstorm best, have a space to jot down ideas and key points to your plot structure as you develop it.
    • You can reference the YouTube video for an example, but basically you’ll want at a minimum to include Act I, Transition to Act II, Act II’s Turning Point, Transition to Act III (the Pit of Despair), the Climax, and the Resolution.
    • The intention here is not to develop a detailed play-by-play of your story, but rather to set benchmarks for the key areas listed above. If you have other ideas that fit into any of these sections feel free to note them down as well.  They can serve as additional ideas as you press onwards, but don’t get too distracted by them!
  • Ideas
    • All you need to start building a story is a root idea to grow. It can be a character, theme, plot, setting, etc.
    • The easiest idea seeds are plot inspirations as these provide more direction than the others, but you don’t have to have one to get started.
    • It can be helpful to have several ideas because you can play these off each other to get additional inspiration and direction.
    • The Three Act Structure works for any genre.
    • Ideas may evolve as you work, changing from how you imagined them initially. Ask yourself if this is okay or if it is important to you that you stay in lockstep with the initial inspiration as this will impact the choices you make.
  • Time
    • Give yourself time. Don’t expect to develop a core plot structure in an evening.  You probably will need to allow your brain time to percolate.
    • But know yourself—is it helpful to mull over a challenge or are you just playing the avoidance game and need to buckle down?
  • The Aim Point
    • The most important element of the Three Act Structure is the Climax. It tells you where your story is going.
    • As soon as possible, develop your climax, at least in basic form, to begin giving direction to all of your ideas.
    • If you don’t have a Climax to aim for, you will lose focus and your story will wander. It may doom you never to finish.
    • The below notes are largely in structure sequence, so jump down to the “What to do when Inspiration Fails” at the end for ideas on finding a climax.
  • Other things to keep in mind
    • If you get stuck during this process or at any other stage of your writing journey, it can be helpful to have someone to talk to. Make sure this person is sufficiently interested to be helpful!  They should be willing to challenge you and question your assumptions.  A “Yes-Man” is not helpful.  Alternatively, try writing down your challenge on paper.  Sometimes the simple act of trying to convert the jumble of ideas in your head into a cohesive form can be enough.
    • At the end of this process, you will have a basic structure for your story, but that doesn’t mean anything is set in stone—not even the climax! As you continue developing your story and actually writing it, you may encounter new ideas that are worth including.  You also may face unanticipated problems and arrive at new solutions different from initial plan.

Setting up the First Act

  • Act I typically begins with “normal” life.
  • Start with your inspirations
    • For character inspirations, what is that character like before the story begins to change everything?
    • Setting inspirations are similar to character. What is the setting like for “normal” life?
    • If it is a plot idea, then consider what life is like before the plot begins. What would the world be like if there was no plot at all?
    • If it is a theme idea, think of it like you would a plot. Themes have arcs, too, so what is the thematic tone of the world before the “normal” changes?
  • Expand from your root inspirations to develop new ideas. Begin incorporating new concepts, adding characters, setting details (or changes), the beginning of a plot, the introduction of conflict, etc.

Finding the Transition Point

  • Act I concludes with a crisis, change, or decision point that forces the protagonist out of the normal.
  • What is that stimulus? Is it internal or external?
  • The transition is the beginning of the protagonist’s journey to the climax. What causes that journey and how does it begin?
  • If none of your ideas were plot inspirations, check your work so far. Do you have a plot at this point?  Do you know where your story is going? 
    • If not, it is critical that you figure out that objective now.
    • It is possible to develop a compelling First Act without knowing the ultimate direction of your plot since the main journey doesn’t start until this transition point, but from here on you must have that direction.
    • If you are struggling, see the “What to do when Inspiration Fails” section below.

Establishing the Turning Point

  • The Turning Point usually occurs around the middle of the novel when the protagonist makes a decisive shift from “First I go this way” to “Now I go that way.”
  • When considering the Turning Point, ask yourself these three questions:
    • What was the protagonist doing BEFORE the Turning Point?
    • What was the protagonist doing AT the Turning Point?
    • What does the protagonist begin doing differently AFTER the Turning Point?
  • The Turning Point often includes a mental or psychological element, though it can be physical as well.

The Pit of Despair

  • The Transition from Act II to Act III is when everything goes wrong… the Pit of Despair.
  • What crisis does the protagonist go through that creates this Pit?
  • How does the protagonist crawl out of the Pit?
  • The act of crawling out of the Pit generally involves final preparations for the Climax of the tale.

The Climax

  • This is the Aim Point of your entire story. It is the point of the narrative.
  • It is when your protagonist faces the final and ultimate test.
  • The Climax is generally the peak moment of the plot arc, character arc, and thematic arc.

The Resolution

  • You don’t necessarily have to have your Resolution figured out at this point unless you want to. As you work on your tale, the story itself may ‘tell you’ what the Resolution should be.

What to do when Inspiration Fails

Consider the following five questions.  You may find it helpful to work through them in the order listed below, however any order will do.

  • What is the Existential Threat?
    • What is the big, ultimate danger that overshadows everything else and, if it is triumphant, spells ruin for your protagonist’s intentions?
    • This danger may only be a threat to the protagonist, or it could include his family, his nation, the world, and so on. It can be big like a meteor about to strike the earth or very narrow and personal.  It can be external and/or internal.
    • Every story has a threat but, in order for your story to work, your protagonist must care about the threat and be willing to take it on. If the protagonist isn’t, then either the protagonist must grow to the point where he is willing to do so or perhaps you have the wrong protagonist.
  • What Genre are you writing?
    • Genres provide hints, constraints, themes, and guiderails to their stories.
    • What might your audience expect to encounter, based upon genre? You can subvert this, but be careful—if you subvert your entire genre, you no longer have a genre at all, and may need to reconsider your target audience.
    • What elements of your genre have you not included (or have included but could be expanded upon) that could help provide direction to your story?
  • Setting and Geography
    • What opportunities does your world present to you? These could be environmental, political, economic, or social influences that might come into play.
    • Don’t think of this only on a grand scale, but consider it more narrowly, too, especially if your setting is small. Who are the movers and shakers in your setting? Who are the ne’er-do-wells?  How do people learn what’s going on?  Who is power hungry or corrupt?  Are there any rivals to your protagonist?
    • Look to surrounding areas as well. For a nationwide setting, this might be other countries.  For a narrow setting like a small town, this could be the surrounding countryside or a nearby big city.  What influences, ambitions, challenges, and so on might emerge from the surrounding areas to affect your protagonist?
  • Character Motivation
    • What does your protagonist want to do? What motivates him or her?
    • What do you, as an author, want your protagonist to do?
      • Be very careful here: Characters shouldn’t dance to your every whim.  When you create them, you give them motivations and personalities that are presumably different from your own.  Forcing a character to act against his personality to achieve a plot point (or any other goal) is a violation of storytelling and the mark of a bad author.
      • Characters can only adapt and change due to stimulus that they experience. Therefore, consider what stimulus you need to introduce into your story to get your protagonist to the correct mindset to do what you need him to do at the climax?
      • Obviously, if you don’t have a Climax figured out yet, you can only take Character Motivation so far. This is why figuring out the Climax is so critical.
    • What do you have already? (Containment)
      • There can be a propensity for stories to balloon out of control. Therefore, instead of looking outward in search of a plot or solution to another challenge you might face, it can sometimes help to look inward.  What do you have already?
      • Is there anything that already exists in the world that you can use to achieve your ends?
      • Using something that already exists can help keep your story close, focused, and perhaps more personal than anything you might achieve by looking outward.