BLOG QUESTION: 3-ACT STRUCTURE

In your own words, summarize each act of the three-act structure and explain what its role in the story is.

The first act should introduce all the main characters of the story and set up the location and circumstances that the characters are in (where does the story mainly take place? Why are they there? What happens to them that sets the story up?). It should also contain some exposition to show how the characters are related to each other, or to show their personalities. A question (enigma) should be introduced in order to capture the audiences attention. The second act should allow the characters to achieve some of their goals, but not their main one. Everything should fall apart so by the midpoint of the story they're at their lowest point, and they need to overcome obstacles that get harder and more difficult before the third act. In the third act, they should reach the climax (point where the story reaches its highest tension point). Their relationships or solutions should have developed, or some sort of resolution, in order for the audience to feel some sense of closure. Some stories have open endings, so it's important to keep in mind what you want the characters to learn/audience to learn by the end of your story.