Secrets of Writing: Act Structure
ACT STRUCTURE
We’ve been discussing various elements of story construction such as the world, the plot, the premise and the characters. Now we get down to the nitty gritty.
Act Structure is the most classic form of story construction. It’s a system that has worked incredibly well for thousands of years. I’m going to give you the basics so you can apply these principals you see fit.
Most of us are familiar with the structure known as the three act play. In a nutshell, the three act structure is: The Beginning, the Middle, and the End of the story.
In comic books, this structure has become rare as writers tend to leave their audiences hanging with unresolved climaxes at the end of every issue. Most comics are serialized fiction after all. But there is a right way and a wrong way to handle cliffhangers.
For now let’s deal with the acts.
What is an Act?
Acts are blocks of scenes in a story, separated by act climaxes (“Turning Points”). A comics story is built up from this form: Panel>Scene>Sequence>Acts>Story. Every other medium employs the same form except for the panels. Panels are unique to comics.
The act serves to show a major change taking place in the story. It’s composed of sequences which build to that change, which is the turning point. The sequences are composed of scenes and the scenes are made up of the individual story panels.
The act serves to create a sense of closure for one part of the story. The audience can’t take everything at the same level of energy. We control the energy of the story through these compartmental devices. An act is the sum total of all its parts and it propels us into the next act until the climax and resolution.
Despite what many people think, the three act structure is not the most effective way to tell a story. Shakespeare preferred to do his plays in five acts. A story can be told in one act or seven depending on the objectives of the plot. Acts build the story’s emotional charge. If it takes more than three acts to build up the proper charge, then so be it.
Let’s focus on one and two act stories for a second. These kinds of stories are by nature, brief. The longer the story, the more complexity and reversals are needed, and thus more acts.
One act stories are usually very short. They have the “twist” or “surprise” ending. These stories are created in service of the ending. Everything leads up to a big surprise. The old E.C. Comics stories were written using this principle. Bill Gaines would come up with some twist ending idea and bounce it off his collaborator Al Feldstien. They would often write the story backwards from the ending. This is not a bad idea, actually, and it worked well for them. The ending is one of the most important components of a story. But we’ll deal with that later. One act stories are pretty much reserved for short fiction because you don’t want to take too long getting to the punchline. The comic gag strip, such as “Garfield”, uses the one act story structure. The structure of a three panel strip is: Setup, Beat, Punchline. The beat being a pause of some kind before you hit them with the joke.
Two Act stories are often used in half hour TV sitcoms. The first act takes place before the commercial break in the middle. Its purpose is to get the characters into trouble. The second act gets them out again. Hopefully, the climax of the second act will have a slam bang ending with a nice twist. This format isn’t bad for one issue comic book stories. Especially if they’re simple action plots. But the three act structure is probably best.
Three Act Structure
This is the most widely used structure, mainly because it’s the most simple. It’s also the minimum number of acts needed to take the hero through all four of the story values. One and two act stories are mainly gimmick stories aimed at reaching a simple conclusion rather than exploring the depths of a character or their experience. With the three act structure, we can really begin to get down and dirty.
Act one serves to introduce the main characters, define their motivations, show us the Trigger Event, and get the story in motion for the second act. It’s basically an introduction to the story. But it needs to grab our attention and not let us go. It’s usually not that big a section of the over all story. And it ends with a plot twist that turns the story in the direction of the conflict.
Act two is the section where progressive complications threaten to defeat the hero. The villain gains his ascendancy in this act and is winning by the end of it. This is largest act in terms of size. It’s where most of the action takes place, where most of the character development occurs. You need to pace this section well and build it carefully for the big twist that throws us headlong into the climax.
Act three is the climax and resolution of the story. It is the smallest act in size and for good reason. Like its namesake, the climax doesn’t take long, but boy is it powerful! We couldn’t take too much of the climax at once. It would destroy it’s power. Energy in a story is a critical thing to control and the climax is an explosion of all the pent up energy we’ve been building. It’s where the forces of the conflict are at their peak. It’s here where the winner is determined and the outcome is revealed. The resolution is going to have to be short, because a long resolution makes for a dragged out ending. I’m sure you’ve seen them before and know what they feel like. So the third act is where we finish the story with our final body blow to the audience, and then we wrap it up nice and sweet so they don’t lose that warm, glowing feeling the climax gave them.
Constructing the Acts
Now that we have a rough idea what acts are and what purpose they serve, let’s talk about how we put them together.
Every act is composed of sequences. Sequences exist to create the Turning Point/Act Climax. They tell the story of how the Turning Point/Act Climax came about. Every sequence builds energy to create a lesser turning point which throws us into the following sequence. The last sequence in an act ends with a major turning point.
Sequences are composed of scenes. Scenes are events that, when placed together, form the story of the sequence. Scenes end with mini-turning points that are smaller that the ones that end a sequence. Except for the last scene in the last sequence. These turning points can be as subtle as a change of expression on a person’s face, or as powerful as a planet exploding. It all depends on where they are in the sequence.
In comics, panels are used to create the scenes. It’s possible to do a scene in one panel, but generally, a scene is made up of two or more panels. Each panel is a static image showing a snapshot of action taking place. There will be dialog, narration, and possibly sound effects to make this static image come alive in some way. But these devices are not always needed. Panels are the only element of the act structure that does not end with a turning point. Not unless they are the last panel in a scene.
So...how do we construct an act? We start from the first image in panel one. Many people like to start with the “Splash Page”, a single panel page that has a dynamic image to rouse our interest. This first image sets the mood for the story right off the bat.
You can set the mood of the story with the first scene and take it from there. Once you establish the mood, you have to work within its confines. Changing the mood of story once it’s been set can be a difficult and dangerous thing to do. I’m sure you’ve read books or seen films where it was unclear whether it was a comedy or a drama. This is because they set one mood, then changed it, then changed it again.
It’s important to either keep the mood consistent, or build toward a change in mood at the act climax. Don’t try to make a major mood change mid act or you will make it difficult for the audience to decide how to feel about the story.
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