Writing With the Three-Act Structure

The Three Act Structure is one of the most popular outlines used for writing and filmmaking. Many popular films use this outline. The outline looks like a sloping mountain that gradually gets steeper, comes to a point, and then drops. This outline is divided into three main sections or “acts”. The first act is the Set Up, the second act is The Confrontation and act three is The Resolution. We will dive more into detail concerning these three main acts and the smaller sections within the acts. 

Act 1- The Set Up

At the very base of this sloping outline is The Beginning. This is where your character starts out living their normal life in their normal world. The character should behave naturally, since they are living in their ordinary world. As the slope gets steeper, we get to the Inciting Incident. This is a part in your story in which something happens in the character’s ordinary world that is not a normal event. This can be anything from a physical event, like someone gets sick or injured, or perhaps a law that affects the character was passed. This causes the Call to Action where the character decides to do something about this incident. This should give the character a goal that he/she pursues. This leads us further up on the slope where the Climax of Act 1 occurs. This is a pivotal point in the story. This can be an encounter with the antagonist, or another incident that is bigger than the last one. 

Act 2- The Confrontation 

As your character climbs this steep hill, they will encounter several Obstacles things that will get in the way of their goal. These obstacles will make the character try harder to pursue their goal and help with their development and arc. After they overcome these smaller obstacles, they reach the Midpoint. This is a big point in your story. A plot twist that makes your readers want more and makes your character’s goal harder to pursue. The part where your character is beginning to figure things out and put pieces together. More Obstacles follow this climax, and then comes a Disaster. The disaster is an event that heightens the stakes and your character will have to face and make some difficult decisions. Your character will be in a tough spot, and will become in the midst of a Crisis. This will be the moment where it feels like all is lost and there’s no more hope for your character. They may feel tempted to give up or quit following their goal. 

Act 3- The Resolution

Your character has almost reached the top of this tricky mountain. At this point, there is another Climax right before they reach the top. This smaller climax will lead up to the apex of this climb, the Climax of Act 3. This is the most impacting point of the story. This is where all the pieces fall into place and your character achieves their goal. This is the moment in the story that your readers will have been looking forward to the most and the moment that you will have been waiting to write. Following after this your character begins their downhill trek. They will run into a few more minor Obstacles and then all will come together at the Wrap Up. The wrap up is where all is resolved and the character feels satisfied about their obtained goal. They have then reached the other side of this mountain, The End. 

What did you think?

Hello, readers and fellow writers! I hope this post was helpful for you! Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments; we’d love to hear from you! Keep writing and don’t give up! If you want more writing tips, check out our blog here!

See you on the next page,

-Ella Quill