Whether you’re a plotter, or your editing and revising the random mess from a seriously stupendous scribbling session, it helps to know that you have a plot, or a path, so that your story is an adventure with a clear beginning, middle, and end.

One of the best ways I’ve found to help me achieve these goals is to use acts, like those in a play.

What are acts? Think of them as chapters. Each act fulfils a portion of the story, filling your adventure out into clearly defined areas and events. I know it sounds a bit formulaic, but there’s a reason I bring this up; the structure is important. Would you trust a building that couldn’t support itself?

I sure wouldn’t, and after many beta reads, rejection letters and critiques, I’ve come to understand that readers want a point to their stories. They want to feel satisfied, to know an adventure has happened, and the best way to accomplish such is to use a tried and tested method.

 

The 5 act structure

 

There’s a saying that every story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end.  After all my research, I’ll argue that statement is oversimplified, and that’s because the middle and the end are each divided into 2 succinct and separate events.

There are charts all over the web describing this, but this is MY blog so I’m going to embellish it MY way.

 

The Start: Act 1

Introduction

 

The middle: Act 2 and 3

Rising action

Climax

 

The end: Act 4 and 5

Falling Action

Denouement or conclusion

 

Wow, fancy words, but don’t worry about that.

 

I’m going to break this down further. In this blog, I’ll talk about using the 5 act structure on character Arcs. In later blogs, I’ll discuss a variety of acts in regard to plot.

 

The theory is relatively the same.

• Act 1: Introduction
• Act 2: Character is faced with a decision
• Act 3: Character makes a choice
• Act 4: Character deals with repercussions
• Act 5: Conclusion of the decision.

 

It is my belief that every primary character should have an Arc. That way the reader feels that they were involved in the story, not just dragged along for the ride.

 

If you remember my blurb on arcs, written back in September 2018, you may recall the following:

 

An Arc is a showing of how a character grows or evolves over time, but it doesn’t mean that they have to change, per se. There are two types of Arcs.

Transformative: The character changes their outlook. For example, Uncle Bill really hates flowers, but when he finds out that the lovely plants he has been paving over have medicinal and nutritional value, he changes his minds and becomes a spokesperson for greenery and natural parks.

Steadfast: Uncle Bill loves flowers and plants, but when his company comes up with new artificial turf, he takes a stand against his income shoring himself up and becoming braver, willing to risk losing his job over losing his lawn.

 

Both of these Arcs fall into a 5 act structure. Let’s break it all the way.

Each of these start with an introduction

That’s act 1:

• Uncle Bill really hates flowers,
• Uncle Bill loves flowers and plants but works for a company whose modus operandi is the removal of flora and fauna.

 

Both of the examples force the character to make a decision. This is the rising action and is the part between the character finding something out, versus making a decision.

That’s Act 2:

• he finds out that the lovely plants he has been paving over have medicinal and nutritional value,
• his company comes up with new artificial turf

 

Now for the Climax. Each character must make a choice. Do they alter themselves, or stick to their original ideals?

That’s act 3:

• he changes his minds and becomes a spokesperson for greenery and natural parks.
• he takes a stand knowing he risks losing his job over losing his lawn.

 

We know they’re going to suffer consequences. That’s act 4.

• New hippy Bill finds himself ostracized by his friends, and his family freaks out over his sudden love of flowers.
• Already Hippy Bill is fired, and the job loss cuts his income.

 

How it ultimately ends, whether good or bad, that’s act 5. Because I’m in a good mood, let’s have some HEA (Happily Ever After) for both Bills

• Bill spends the rest of his days securing land for children to play in and forms a botanical grant despite protests. In his late years, he is invited to a new park, named after him, where he sees his great-grandchildren breathing clean air and playing in the grass he fought for.

 

Hang on

*Blows nose.*

 

Now I could also include a subplot in here to add complexity…

 

Act 1:

• Bill discovers that one of his plants can cure a child of an illness, but it’s a rare strain, possibly the last of it’s kind and farming it will kill the plant but preserve the child’s life.

Act 2:

• Bill Stews over the decision for days, heading cries from the child and their parents, while his botanical bff’s barter with him to spare the plant.

How Bill reacts to this becomes a subplot. What consequences does his choice bring, who lives and who dies?

If I include this but never complete the other acts, I’ve created an unfinished story, and I bet you HATE me right now for doing so.

See, it’s important to use all 5 acts.

 

Now… there are such things called Cliffhangers, but we will save that for another post.

 

I hope showing you my use of a five-act character structure helps you if you decide to use it.

 

Write to you later.

 

Bye.

 

P.s. because I’m not THAT evil:

 

Act 3:

• Late one night Bill arrives at the medical lab, plant in hand.

Act 4:

• Discovering that he chose the child, his plant peers push him away.

Act 5:

• Cured, the child comes to thank Bill personally, and apologize for costing Bill so much.

Smiling, Bill says, “Anyone who puts one life over another, deserves no friendship o’ mine.” Pulling back a curtain, he reveals why he took so long to decide. Rows of starter pots are growing new plants from clippings. Bill had saved parts of the plant after all, having waited long enough for the plant to be strong enough to harvest.

It’s his harvesting and salvation of this rare plant that earns him his new income, enough to keep his home AND open up his new greenhouse.