Find a framework for YOUR story
“You must shape your story in a way that both expresses your vision and satisfies the audience’s desires.”
― Robert McKee, Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting
Join me, Melbourne copywriter and novelist, as I dig a little deeper into story structure (AKA the framework we hang our plot on).
Last week we looked at four common frameworks, including the Hero’s Journey — a form of the Three Act Structure. This week we’ll have a go at putting what we’ve learnt so far into practice, examining our own stories or story ideas.
To refresh, the three-act structure divides a narrative into three parts — Acts 1, 2 and 3. It has its roots in ancient literature and mythology, but was made popular by Syd Field’s book, Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting (1979).
Back in the day, Aristotle famously said (and, yes, it sounds pretty obvious) that, ‘A whole [story] is what has a beginning and middle and end.’ But it’s a little more complex than that...
When broken down the Three Act Structure reads something like this:
Act 1 | Exposition — The beginning of the story, where characters, setting and the inciting incident (AKA the hook) is established.
Act 2 | Rising Action | Complication — The protagonist suffers a physical or existential crisis due to the inciting incident. They know what they want and who they need to be to get what they want, but they don’t know how to reach this point. Instead they engage in a messy dance of one step forward, two steps back, a dynamic which creates rising tension in the plot.
Act 2 and beginning of Act 3 | Climax — The narrative peaks at the climax. A major event occurs which forces the character to take stock, propelling them finally in the right direction. The climax is where the most action and change happen in the story.
Act 3 | Reversal | Falling action —The tide turns and the action subsides here, loose sub-plots are tied up and minor character arcs are closed, as the story moves towards its natural conclusion.
Act 3 | Resolution | Denouement — This is the end of the story. It’s the point at which the major story and character arcs are resolved, creating the ‘sigh’ factor, otherwise known as, reader satisfaction.
Got it? Excellent!
Now it’s your turn...
Have a go at identifying the five stages above in your own story or story idea (if you’re still in the planning stage), then write a brief summary of these beneath each corresponding stage.
Remember, that each of the five stages might occur over many pages or chapters. For instance, Rising Action may be a series of challenges that the character encounters over a 30,000-word section of the book. Alternatively, the Climax might occur over just a couple of pages.
As a general rule-of-thumb, an 80,000-word novel may spend 20,000 words in the Act 1, 40,000 words in Act 2, and 20,000 words Act 3. Again, this is a rough guide ONLY. Let your story’s needs guide this for you.
Happy writing!
Need help with SEO website copywriting, marketing support, proofreading and editing, mentoring, creative copy, a new LinkedIn profile and loads more?
Check out a full range of my services at Copywriter Melbourne, or Contact me for more information.
Or, discover my books, Small Blessings and Hello, Goodbye at Allen and Unwin.
